LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT    OF 

.,...Q^^^ 

Class    ' 


REPORT   OF  PROCEEDINGS 


OF  THE 


SIXTH  ANNUAL  SESSION 


THE  AMERICAN  MINING 
CONGRESS 


IRWIN  MAHON,  SECRETARY, 

CARLISLE,  PENNSYLVANIA 


DEADWOOD  AND  LEAD,  SOUTH  DAKOTA 

SEPTEMBER  7,  8,  9,  10  n,  AND  12,  1903 


1904: 

UNION  PRINTING  COMPANY, 
PORTLAND,  ORE. 


REPORT  OF  PROCEEDINGS 


OF  THE 


SIXTH  ANNUAL  SESSION 


THE  AMERICAN  MINING 
*  CONGRESS 


IRWIN    MAHON,  SECRETARY, 

CARLISLE,  PENNSYLVANIA 


DEADWOOD  AND  LEAD,  SOUTH  DAKOTA, 

SEPTEMBER  7,  8,  9,  10,  u  AND  12,  1903 


1904: 

UNION  PRINTING  COMPANY, 
POBTLAND,  ORK. 


\"\° 


-, 


SESSIONS  OF  THE,  CONGRESS  HAVE 
BEEN  HE,LD  AS  FOLLOWS: 


DATE 

CITY 

PRESIDENT 

ADDRESS 

REMAKKS 

1st 

July  1897 

Denver,  Colo. 

Hon.  Alva  Adams 

Pueblo,  Colo. 

Temporary 

1st 

July  1897 

Denver,  Colo. 

Hon.L.  Bradford  Prince 

Santa  Fe,  N.  M. 

2nd 

July  1898 

Salt  Lake,  Utah 

Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince 

Santa  Fe,  N.  M. 

3rd 

July  1899 

Milwaukee 

Col.  M.  B.  Montgomery 

Cripple  Creek,  Colo.  ) 

Passed  to 

3rd 

June  1900 

Milwaukee 

Col.  M.  B.  Montgomery 

Cripple  Creek,  Colo.  ) 

June  1900 

4th 

July  1901 

Boise,  Idaho 

Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince 

Santa  Fe,  N.  M. 

5th 

Sept.  1902 

Butte,  Mont. 

E.  L.  Schafner 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

6th 

Sept.  1903 

Deadwood  and  \ 
Lead  S.  D.      j 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards 

Boise,  Idaho. 

OF   THE 

(I   UNIVERSITY 

OF 


OFFICAl  ROSTER 

OF  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE 

American   Mining   Congress 

SEVENTH  ANNUAL  SESSION 

MEETS  AT  PORTLAND,  OREGON, 

AUGUST  22  -  27,  1904. 


OFFICERS 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  President , Boise,  Idaho 

Col.  Thos.  Ewing,  1st  Vice-President.  .Los  Angeles,  California 

R.  C.  Patterson,  2nd  Vice-President Omaha,  Nebraska 

J.  Frank  Watson,  3d  Vice-President Portland,  Oregon 

Merchants  National  Bank,  Treasurer Portland,  Oregon 

Irwin   Mahon,   Secretary Carlisle,    Pennsylvania 

BOARD    OF    DIRECTORS. 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  Idaho;  Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  California;  R.  C. 
Patterson,  Nebraska;  J.  Frank  Watson,  Oregon;  Col.  E.  F.  Brown, 
Colorado;  Dr.  J.  A.  Holmes.  North  Carolina;  John  Gray,  South  Dakota; 
Hon.  James  H.  Lynch,  Montana;  John  Dern,  Utah. 

LEGISLATIVE     COMMITTEE. 

Hon.  J.   H.   Mitchell,  United   States   Senator,   Chairman,   Oregon; 
Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  Idaho;  Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  California. 
PROGRAM    COMMITTEE. 

R.  C.  Patterson,  A.  M.,  Chairman,  Nebraska;  J.  Frank  Watson,  Ore- 
gon; John  Gray,  South  Dakota. 

TRANSPORTATION   COMMITTEE. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Chairman,  Pennsylvania;  Hon.  J.  H.  Lynch,  Mon- 
tana; Capt.  Thos  K.  Muir,  Oregon. 

BUILDING  COMMITTEE. 

Col.  Thos.  Ewing,  Chairman,  California;  David  H.  Moffatt,  Den- 
ver, Colorado;  J.  R.  Leonard,  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 

203314 


OFFICERS  OF  THE 
SIXTH  ANNUAL  SESSION 

American    Mining   Congress 

WHICH  MET  AT 

DEADWOOD  AND  LEAD,  SOUTH,  DAKOTA, 
SEPTEMBER   7  TO  12  INCLUSIVE,   1903. 


OFFICERS 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  President Boise,  Idaho 

S.  W.  Russell,  1st  Vice-President Deadwood,  South  Dakota 

E.  R.  Buckley,  2d  Vice-President Rolla,  Missouri 

Thomas  Ewing,  3d  Vice-President. ..  .Los  Angeles,  California 

C.  W.  Goodale,  Treasurer Butte,  Montana 

Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary Carlisle,  Pennsylvania 

EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  Boise,  Idaho;  E.  R.  Buckley,  Rolla,  Missouri; 
Irwin  Mahon,  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania;  Col.  John  T.  Grayson,  Portland, 
Oregon;  S.  W.  Russell,  Deadwood,  South  Dakota;  Col.  Thos.  Ewing, 
Los  Angeles,  California;  Charles  W.  Goodale,  Butte,  Montana;  W.  L. 
Kendall,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  L.  K.  Armstrong,  Spokane,  Washington. 

LEGISLATIVE    COMMITTEE 

Hon.  E.  W.  Martin,  Chairman,  Deadwood,  South  Dakota;  Hon.  H. 
B.  Heyburn,  United  States  Senator,  Wallace,  Idaho;  Hon.  A.  B. 
Kittredge,  United  States  Senator,  Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota;  Col. 
Thomas  Ewing,  Los  Angeles,  California;  Maj.  E.  L.  Shafner,  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

PROGRAM    COMMITTEE 

W.  S.  Elder,  Chairman,  Deadwood,  South  Dakota;  J.  W.  Neill, 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah;  Walter  H.  Weed,  United  States  Geological 
Survey,  Washington,  D.  C.;  Dr.  R.  L.  Slagle,  Dean  School  of  Mines, 
Rapid  City,  South  Dakota;  R.  H.  Driscoll,  Cashier  First  National  Bank, 
Lead,  South  Dakota. 

TRANSPORTATION    COMMITTEE 

S.  W.  Russell,  Chairman,  Deadwood,  South  Dakota;  John  Francis, 
G.  P.  A.,  B.  &  M.  R.  R.,  Omaha,  Nebraska;  J.  A.  Kuhn,  Asst.  G.  P. 
&  F.  A.,  C.  &  NL  W.  R.  R.  Co.,  Omaha,  Nebraska;  Pro.f  E.  M.  Shepard, 
Springfield,  Missouri;  Ernest  May,  Lead,  South  Dakota. 


REPORT  OF  PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE 

SIXTH  ANNUAL  SESSION 

THE    AMERICAN    MINING 
CONGRESS 


DEADWOOD  AND  LEAD,  SOUTH  DAKOTA, 

SEPTEMBER  7,  8,  9,  10,  n  AND  12,  1903. 


Deadwood,  S.  D.,  September  8,  1903,  10  A.  M. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Congress  will  now  be  in  order. 
During  this  forenoon  session  we  will  pay  no  attention  to  the  cards 
representing  the  states.  We  will  be  pleased  to  have  you  all  come 
forward  and  these  seats  will  be  arranged  for  the  afternoon. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  have  the  invocation  by 
The  Right  Reverend  John  Stahra,  Bishop  of  Lead. 

BISHOP  STAHRA:  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  amen:  O,  Holy  Father,  Almighty  and  Eternal  God,  we  at  all 
times  and  on  all  occasions  praise  and  adore  Thee  for  the  many  bene- 
fits Thou  hast  bestowed  upon  this  great  republic.  Today,  therefore, 
we  raise  our  hearts  and  our  voices  beseeching  Thee  to  bear  forth  Thy 
graces  on  these  assembled.  We  pray  Thee  in  Thy  bounty  to  share 
Thy  blessings  on  all  the  members  of  this  American  Mining  Congress, 
and  especially  ask  thy  blessings  on  all  those  who  are  to  take  part  in 
the  deliberations  of  this  Congress,  that  the  officers  and  delegates 
may  be  strengthened  by  Thy  grace  and  may  discharge  their  duties 
honestly  and  conscientiously  and  for  the  well  being  of  the  people. 
May  the  deliberations  of  this  Mining  Congress  be  guided  by  the  light 
of  Thy  divine  wisdom,  may  its  deliberations  tend  to  promote  the 
mining  industry,  the  prosperity  of  our  nation  and  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  benefit  of  the  people. 

We  pray  Thee  on  this  great  auspicious  day,  O  God  of  Nations 
and  of  Battles,  to  direct  in  Thy  wisdom  OUT  National  Congress  to 
frame  laws  for  the  development  of  the  mining  industry,  and  we  pray 
Thee  that  it  may  become  a  separate  department  of  our  national 
government.  We  commend  to  Thy  infinite  bounty  all  our  fellow 
citizens  throughout  the  United  States  and  the  officers  and  delegates 
of  this  Mining  Congress  that  they  may  live  in  union  and  brotherly 
love  and,  after  enjoying  all  the  blessings  of  this  life  they  may  by  Thy 
divine  grace  be  permitted  to  enjoy  eternal  life  with  Thee  forever 
in  Heaven.  Amen. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  You  will  now  listen  to  the  address 
of  welcome  on  behalf  of  South  Dakota  by  the  governor  of  this  state, 
Hon.  Charles  N.  Herreid.  (Applause.) 

Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress: 
Today  South  Dakota  enjoys  the  proud  distinction  of  having  as  her 
guests  the  representative  men  of  one  of  the  most  important  indus- 
tries, and  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  welcome  to  our  state  this 
large  and  illustrious  gathering  of  the  most  distinguished  mining  men 
of  the  United  States.  In  the  presence  of  so  many  evidences  of  good 
will  it  is  almost  needless  for  me  to  extend  to  you  formal  greetings  of 


6  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

welcome.  Half  a  million  South  Dakotans  would  greet  you  and  welcome 
you  and  will  follow  your  deliberations  with  great  interest  and  enthu- 
siasm. The  problems  which  you  will  consider  are  problems  of  tre- 
mendous importance  to  this  young  state.  While  South  Dakota  is  best 
known  as  one  of  the  great  agricultural  states,  our  vast  mineral 
resources  challenge  our  most  careful  consideration.  We  have  within 
our  state  not  only  the  largest  gold  mine  in  the  world,  but  what  is 
believed  to  be  the  richest  one  hundred  square  miles  upon  the  globe, 
our  mining  experts  will  tell  you  we  have  mountains  of  precious 
metals;  our  regents  of  education  will  say  to  you  we  have  the  best 
School  of  Mines  evolving  the  best  methods  for  securing  these  metals; 
and  I  know  we  have  men  with  the  best  mind  and  muscle  to  do  the 
work.  Since  the  26th  day  of  July  1874,  when  H.  N.  Rose  washed  the 
first  gold  from  French  Creek,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  mil- 
lion dollars  of  gold  have  been  taken  from  South  Dakota  mines.  While 
we  are  contributing  our  full  share  towards  the  world's  supply  of  the 
precious  metals  our  immense  mining  enterprises  are  in  their  infancy, 
with  hundreds  of  mines  awaiting  development. 

The  industry  which  you  represent  is  most  intimately  connected 
with  the  business  life  of  the  country.  The  output  of  the  mines  sup- 
plies the  vital  spark — the  energy  of  commerce.  Close  every  mine  and 
you  would  shake  to  its  foundations  every  industry  in  the  country. 

We  all  rejoice  over  the  prevailing  universal  prosperity.  I  am 
proud  of  the  fact  that  I  can  welcome  you  to  a  people  who  are  super- 
latively prosperous,  contented  and  happy;  where  the  spirit  of  success 
dominates  the  commercial  and  industrial  atmosphere;  where  every- 
body has  surrendered  to  the  magnificent  energy  which  is  building  a 
new  and  splendid  empire.  I  welcome  you  to  a  people  who  for  six 
years  have  produced  more  wealth  per  capita  than  any  other  state 
in  the  Union;  to  a  state  famous  for  the  large  number  according  to 
population,  of  newspapers,  churches,  colleges  and  school  houses;  to 
a  state  absolutely  free  from  conflict  between  labor  and  capital;  to  a 
state  settled  largely  by  the  children  of  the  pioneers  who  were  the 
empire  builders  of  the  Great  West — children  who  from  infancy  were 
taught  the  lessons  of  vigorous  manhood;  a  people  who  adopted  as 
their  state  motto: 

"Under  God  the  People  Rule," 

and  who,  as,  individuals  and  communities,  with  reverence  for  all  law, 
human  and  'divine,  are  living  up  to  their  high  standards  of  right. 
I  have  no  apologies  to  make  for  this  young  commonwealth.  A  few 
years  ago,  in  the  midst  of  universal  distress,  when  financial  ruin  was 
prancing  up  and  down  Wall  Street,  when  civilization  seemed  to  have 
entered  upon  an  epoch  of  unrest,  our  people  were  fearlessly  facing 
serious  problems  and  thinking  and  struggling — perhaps  not  always 
wisely  but  always  with  the  conviction  of  honest,  men.  Triumphantly 
the  people  shook  off  the  burden  of  despair.  Ten  years  ago  the  real 
value  of  all  property  within  the  state  was  less  than  one  hundred 
million  dollars;  today  it  is  one  thousand  million!  Today  every  South 
Dakotan  is  proud  of  his  state  and  with  joy  and  devotion  ready  to  join 
the  grand  chorus  of  thanksgiving  and  praise: 

"I  love  ev'ry  inch  of  her  prairie  land, 

Every  stone  on  her  mountain  side, 
I  love  every  drop  of  her  water  clear 

That  flows  in  her  rivers  wide. 
I  love  ev'ry  tree,  ev'ry  blade  of  grass 

Within  Columbia's  gates. 
The  queen  of  the  earth  is  the  land  of  my  birth, 

My  own  United  States." 

Members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress!  I  welcome  you  to  a 
state  that  feels  honored  by  your  presence.  I  sincerely  hope  and  believe 
that  your  deliberations  will  be  profitable  and  pleasant  and  that  when 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  7 

you  leave  our  state,  it  will  be  with  the  most  pleasant  recollections 
and  delightful  impression  that  South  Dakota  has  not  only  the  natural 
resources  and  the  people  but  the  foundations  firmly  established  for 
honorable  membership  in  the  splendid  galaxy  of  the  great  common- 
wealths of  our  country.  (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  You  will  now  listen  to  a  selection  of 
music  by  the  band. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  An  address  of  welcome  on  behalf  of 
the  city  of  Deadwood  by  its  mayor,  Mr.  E.  MteDonald.  (Applause.) 

MAYOR  M'DONJALD:  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  welcome  the 
American  Mining  Congress  to  Deadwood  in  the  name  of  its  citizens.  It 
is  the  first  time  your  association  has  turned  its  face  in  the  direction  of 
the  richest  one  hundred  miles  square  on  earth  and  we  feel  confident 
that  you  will  be  given  the  heartiest  welcomes  and  a  grand  acquisition 
to  your  membership. 

I  hope  that  your  stay  among  us  will  be  so  pleasant  that  on  your 
return  to  your  homes  you  may  at  least  be  able  to  say  that  you  have 
had  a  pleasant  time,  if  not  the  pleasantest  among  your  six  annual 
meetings.  Deadwood  has  invited  you  to  this  city  and  you  have  ac- 
cepted the  invitation  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  it  was  offered  and 
I  do  assure  you  of  our  pleasure  in  having  you  with  us  and  again  say 
that  we  shall  feel  amply  rewarded  if  your  visit  will  prove  a  profit 
and  pleasure  to  you. 

We  regret  exceedingly  the  absence  of  President  Roosevelt,  whom 
we  had  supposed  would  have  been  able  to  have  accepted  the  very 
cordial  invitation  that  was  extended  to  him  by  the  Black  Hills  Mining 
Men's  Association.  Still,  we  are  gratified  to  be  favored  by  the  pres- 
ence of  such  a  distinguished  representative  in  the  person  of  Hon. 
Leslie  M.  Shaw.  (Applause.) 

You  are  here  to  exchange  greetings  and  to  renew  your  acquaint- 
ances one  with  the  other,  to  have  as  much  pleasure  as  you  can  and  do 
what  you  can  to  bind  the  members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress 
closer  and  closer  in  the  bond  of  union  which  is  growing  stronger  with 
each  passing  year.  You  can  and  are  by  these  gatherings  getting 
nearer  and  nearer  together,  thus  enabling  you  to  harmonize  opinions 
and  unite  on  general  principles,  although  differing  on  details.  It  is 
impossible  for  us  all  to  agree  upon  everything.  We  will  have  our 
differences  and  should  have.  If  not,  all  advancement  and  progress 
would  cease  and  the  world  would  retrograde.  We  grow  wiser  and 
better  by  the  exchange  of  opinions. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  no  one  would  have  supposed  it  would  have 
been  possible  to  bring  so  large  a  number  of  mining  men  together 
in  one  grand  body  like  the  American  Mining  Congress,  hence  we  have 
reason  to  rejoice  over  what  has  been  accomplished  so  far  and  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  future  is  bright  with  possibilities. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Mining  Congress,  Mayor  Davey  was 
desirous  of  turning  over  the  keys  of  the  city  to  your  president,  saying 
his  inability  to  do  so  was  caused  by  the  neglect  of  M'ayor  McDonald 
to  return  them.  (Laughter.)  The  insistence  of  Mr.  Elliott  of  Montana 
that  we  refrain  from  transacting  any  business  of  any  kind  or  charac- 
ter prevented  my  making  any  explanation  at  that  time  and  I  think  it 
is  due  you  to  know  why  I  failed  to  give  the  keys  to  the  mayor  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Congress.  The  night  before  our  delegation  was 
invited  to  dinner  by  Col.  James  Lynch  (Cheers)  and  those  of  you 
who  know  him  can  form  some  idea  of  the  time  we  were  permitted  to 
leave  his  hospitable  home.  It  was  late,  yes,  very  late  in  the  morning, 
and  on  nearing  the  Thornton  we  were  accosted  by  a  large  body  who 
inquired  if  we  were  the  South  Dakota  delegation.  Being  informed 
that  we  were  they  asked  if  the  mayor  of  Deadwood  was  with  them. 
I  replied  that  I  was  the  mayor  of  Deadwood  and  was  proud  of  it. 
They  wanted  the  key  to  the  hospital.  At  the  mention  of  the  word 
hospital  we  all  became  alarmed  and  we  all  volunteered  our  services, 


8  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

saying  that  every  man  from  Deadwood  was  a  Good  Samaritan.  They 
said  they  were  in  quest  of  trained  nurses,  they  wanted  seclusion  and 
rest;  that  although  they  had  preceded  us  a  week  they  found  that 
the  South  Dakota  delegation  was  in  the  forefront  of  popularity. 
What  could  a  man  do,  representing  the  generous  citizens  of  Dead- 
wood,  but  to  hand  over  the  bunch  of  keys? 

Now  I  am  not  going  to  give  the  keys  of  the  city  of  Deadwood  to 
President  Richards;  not  because  he  is  not  a  good  man;  his  reputation 
has  preceded  him.  He  has  paid  us  a  number  of  visits  during  the  past 
year  to  consult  with  his  invaluable  co-worker,  Mr.  Mahon.  (Cheers.) 
We  had  an  opportunity  of  learning  something  of  Judge  Richards, 
modest  and  unassuming  way,  and  any  organization  should  be  proud  to 
be  the  possessor  of  such  an  able  and  dignified  president.  (Cheers.) 
Now  you  will  observe  that  I  have  no  personal  reasons — I  love  the 
judge;  to  know  him  is  to  love  him;  he  is  a  man  among  men;  a  prince 
among  gentlemen,  but  I  cannot  give  him  the  keys  to  the  city  of 
Deadwood.  I  have  conceived  the  idea  that  on  this  occasion  an  open 
door  policy  without  the  Russian  bear  in  the  doorway  would  be  prefer- 
able to  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

OUT  homes  and  hearts  are  open  to  you  and  if  you  should  find  any- 
thing under  lock  and  key  report  it  and  I  will  ascertain  the  reason 
why.  (Laughter.)  Now,  to  the  city  of  Deadwood,  I  join  with  our 
people  in  welcoming  you  and  I  trust  that  your  visit  will  prove  an 
era  in  the  life  of  the  American  Mining  Congress.  (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  take  this  occasion  to  call  upon  our 
secretary  to  read  a  letter  recently  received  by  your  congressman,  Hon. 
E.  W.  Martin,  from  the  president  of  the  United  States. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:      Mr.  President,   Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

"White  House. 

Washington. 

Oyster  Bay,  N.  Y.,  August  28,  1903. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Martin: 

I  am  very  sorry  to  find  that  it  will  be  out  of  the  question  for  me  to 
attend  the  session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  next  month.  I 
take  a  particular  interest  in  this  meeting,  because  many  of  your 
members  I  have  myself  the  honor  of  personally  knowing.  I  not  only 
believe  with  all  my  heart  in  the  work,  but  in  the  men  who  are 
doing  it. 

Please  convey  to  the  delegates  assembled  my  hearty  good  wishes 
for  the  complete  success  of  the  meeting. 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT, 
Hon.  Eben  W.  Martin,  M.  C.,  Deadwood,  S.  D."     (Great  applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Your  committee  on  program  has 
designated  myself  to  respond  on  behalf  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  to  the  addresses  of  welcome  that  have  been  extended  this 
congress. 

I  was  notified  by  the  mayor  of  Deadwood  on  yesterday  that  he 
would  have  the  best  of  me  today  and  I  see  that  he  has  because  he 
still  holds  the  keys  to  this  city.  I  thought  when  I  heard  the  name 
McDonald,  that  he  probably  came  from  bonnie  Scotland,  but  upon 
hearing  the  smoothness  of  his  tongue  I  think  he  has  received  the 
inspiration  of  the  Blarney  stone  of  Ireland.  (Applause.) 

It  gives  me  especial  pleasure  to  respond  to  these  addresses  of 
welcome  on  behalf  of  this  Congress  for  many  reasons,  a  few  of  which 
1  will  mention.  When  this  Congress  was  in  a  state  of  possible  dis- 
organization the  people  of  these  Black  Hills  had  an  active  part  in 
reorganizing  it.  When  it  was  in  a  state  of  poverty  they  gave  it 
money.  When  it  wanted  a  home  they  took  it  in,  and  today  when  it 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  9 

stands  forth  here  in  this  city  filled  with  hope  they  rejoice  with  its 
prosperity,  and  whatever  of  good  it  may  accomplish  in  the  future 
the  people  of  the  Black  Hills  will  have  a  large  share  in  whatever 
that  good  may  be.  (Cheers.) 

I  know  from  experience  that,  although  you  may  have  here  the 
richest  one  hundred  square  miles  on  earth  in  gold  and  material 
wealth — I  say  I  know  from  exp-erience  that  you  have  also  a  greater 
wealth  than  that  in  the  sturdy  manhood  of  the  Black  Hills.  It  is 
ereater  because  it  means  more  to  this  commonwealth  than  all  the 
gold  and  silver  hidden  in  these  great  mountains,  because  in  the  end 
it  means  higher  citizenship  and  from  the  generosity,  good  will  and 
strength  of  manhood  that  I  have  met  here,  you  have  a  greater  wealth 
in  your  manhood  and  womanhood  than  all  the  wealth  of  these  hills 
otherwise.  (Applause.) 

This  Congress  and  its  officers  have  received  an  inspiration  from 
the  Black  Hills  Mining  Men's  Association — the  model  Mining  Men's 
Association  of  the  entire  West — and  that  inspiration  will  go  out 
through  the  influence  of  this  congress  into  every  mining  camp  in  the 
country.  They  will  pattern  by  your  model  and  by  your  inspiration 
and  so  this  work  will  go  on. 

So  I  say  it  gives  me  particular  pleasure  to  respond  to  these 
addresses  of  welcome  giving  this  Congress  an  opportunity  to  testify 
to  the  worth  of  the  manhood  of  the  Black  Hills. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  listen  to  a  further 
response  from  Mrs.  Dignowity. 

MRS.  DIGNOWITY:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
This  is  rather  a  low  grade  proposition  I  have  to  offer  this  morning. 
We  hope  though,  with  proper  treatment,  to  extract  some  little  value 
from  it.  I  have  entitled  this  little  doggerel  which  I  have  to  offer, 
"America's  Mining  Man." 

AMERICA'S    MINING    MAN. 

[By  Ella  Purkiss  Dignowity] 

To   "The    Congress    of    Mining    Men"    assembled    here    within    these 

templed  hills, 

A  message  of  welcome  is  given  which  should  banish  all  your  ills. 
For  thoughts  are  potent  forces,  that  have  ruled  the  world  for  aye, 
And  the  best  of  them  is  offered  to  the  Mining  Man  today. 

Hearty  cheer,  good  will,  kind  greetings  gracious  hosts  extent  to  you. 
Old  bonds,  new  ties,  and  hopes  awaking  making  life  begin  anew. 
Here  the  Mining  Man — God  speed  him — will  be  recognized  this  week, 
As  the  King  we  all  must  bow  to,  and  whose  throne  we  proudly  seek. 

He  has  been  our  brave  crusader  searching  for  the  hidden  grail, 
His  dauntless  courage  and  sturdy  heart  an  invincible  coat  of  mail. 
Full  of  the  vigor  of  manhood,  keen-eyed  and  alert  of  brain, 
Strong  in  hope  that  never  deserts  him  and   faith  that  leads  on  to 
the  "vein." 

Who  dares  to  limit  his  power?     For  intellect   reaches   the  gold, 
The   same    spirit   within   that  urges    him   on,    filled   these   hills   with 

treasures  untold. 

But  the  treasures  are  wondrously  precious,  and  not  to  be  lightly  won, 
So  our  knights  must  struggle  to  conquer,  and  valiantly  battle  on. 

Even  though  "faults"   are   encountered   and   "dead   work"   he   cannot 

pass  by, 
His  courage  and   grit  light  the  tunnel  ahead  more  than  his   candle 

on  high. 

For  he  knows  that  life's  valued  possessions  are  ever  hard  to  win, 
And  the  best,  in  both  man  and  mountain,  is  jealously  guarded  within. 


10  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

And  only  a  brave,  noble  spirit  is  fitted  to  penetrate 

The  shrine  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  from  whence  glories  radiate. 

And  who  is  more  worthy  to  seek  there  and  wear  the  metals  won 

Than  the  Pioneer  of  the  Mining  Camp,  the  man  who  followed  the  sun? 

He  knows  hardships  but  never  shirks  them,  he  seeks  what  is  hidden 

from  view, 
For  the  soul  is  not  found  on  the  surface,  nor  the  heart  of  anything 

true. 
But  now  he  has  caught  the  gleam  and  glitter  of  God's  treasures  hidden 

so  deep, 
Which  lay  waiting  like  all   of  His   blessings   for  Knowledge   to  rouse 

them  from  sleep. 

And  lo!  cometh  forth  priceless  metals  unloosed  by  the  Master  hand; 
The  Mind  that  created  has  power  to  give  His  secrets  to  all  the  land. 
And  who  is  more  zealously  seeking  to  solve  problems  earth  holds  today 
Than  the  Mining  Man  working  and  delving  through  the  darkness  that 
baffles  his  way? 

So  here's  to  the  Mining  Congress,  Metallurgist,  Investor,  all  hail! 
The  Miner,  Promoter  and  Engineer,  too,  united  they  must  be  or  fail. 
And  here's  to  our  hosts,  and  their  cities  the  keys  to  you  have  been 

tendered. 
But  the  world  is  yours,  and  its  richest  gifts  when  "credentials"  are 

properly  rendered. 

With  intelligence,   purpose,  courage  and  strength,  willing  hands  and 

stout  heart  brave  and  true, 

Your  minds  and  bodies  ever  alert,  no  limit  encompasses  you. 
For  deep  in  these  mountains  and  here  in  your  breasts  dwells  He  who 

conceived  the  whole  plan. 
Prove  your  metal  and  find  after  all  the  tests,  the  best  values  God 

put  in  man. 

(Applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Congress  will  now  take  pleasure 
in  listening  to  responses  from  members  and  delegates. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Hon.  John  L.  Webster,  of  Omaha,  will 
address  you  for  a  few  moments. 

M(R.  WEBSTER:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Rather 
unexpectedly  some  of  my  friends  upon  the  platform  have  thought 
that  I  ought  to  say  a  word  as  a  member  of  this  Congress  in  response 
to  the  welcome  which  the  governor  of  this  state  and  the  mayor  of  this 
city  have  so  well  tendered  you. 

I  come  here  with  a  high  appreciation  of  the  wealth  that  is  stored 
in  these  mountains  and  of  the  generosity  and  nobleness  of  the  citi- 
zens, not  only  of  Deadwood,  but  of  the  entire  state  of  South  Dakota. 
We  have  all  heard  of  the  wealth  that  lies  buried  in  the  Black  Hills; 
this  'range  of  mountains  underneath  which  God  seems  to  have  stored 
u  Hlions  upon  millions  of  wealth  and  then  have  raised  them  up  above 
the  vast  plains  so  that  man  could  not  miss  them  and,  in  his  search 
for  wealth,  should  take  from  them  the  gold  that  is  to  enrich  the  world. 

But  there  is  more  in  South  Dakota,  I  should  undertake  to  say, 
than  simply  the  gold  that  comes  from  under  these  mountains.  Your 
president  has  spoken  of  the  noble  manhood  of  her  citizenship  but 
if  we  speak  of  her  wealth  no  one  has  stopped  to  count  the  wealth 
that  comes  from  her  harvest  fields  that  are  grown  from  her  soil  and 
that  which,  when  added  to  the  wealth  that  comes  from  her  moun- 
tains, bespeaks  for  the  state  of  South  Dakota  a  very  bright  future. 
If  you  ever  look  over  its  area  of  territory,  its  opportunities  and  its 
possibilities  and  measure  it  by  like  extent  of  territory  in  any  state, 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  11 

there  is  here  an  opportunity  of  boundless  wealth  and  prosperity. 
Some  of  our  oldest  states  we  can  count  wealthy  simply  because 
they  have  been  in  existence  and  members  of  the  great  Union  for 
horhaps  near  a  century,  but  when  this  state  shall  have  become 
peopled,  as  they  are,  when  wealth  shall  have  come  here  in  all  its 
villages,  towns  and  cities  as  it  is  in  such  older  states,  the  state  of 
South  Dakota,  by  proper  development,  may  come  to  rank  in  wealth 
and  population  as  one  of  the  older  states  and  I  doubt  not  in  the  great 
future  it  may  rival  the  rich  old  state  of  Pennsylvania.  Mark  you, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  tide  of  civilization  seems  driven  westward 
and  with  the  tide  goes  emigration  and  with  ic  goes  wealth  and  in- 
dustry and  when  all  these  are  combined  with  noble  manhood  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  state  of  South  Dakota  to  take  great  and  high  rank 
among  the  states  of  the  American  Union  is  one  of  the  things  not 
only  hoped  for  but  within  the  range  of  possibilities  and  I  sincerely 
believe  it.  (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  There  being  no  further  responses  I 
will  call  upon  the  chairman  of  the  program  committee  to  make  any 
announcement  that  he  may  have  to  make  at  this  time  for  this  after- 
noon. 

Mr.  Elder,  chairman  of  the  program  committee  announced  at 
this  time  the  program  for  the  afternoon. 

(Calls  for  Martin,  of  South  Dakota.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Mr.  Martin  needs  no  introduction. 
Everyone  knows  him.  (Applause.) 

MR.  MARTIN:  Mr.  President,  it  is  not  announced  in  what 
capacity  I  am  expected  to  speak  a  few  minutes  before  you  break 
away  for  dinner,  but  surely  I  cannot  speak  in  the  capacity  of  a  guest 
and  cannot  make  a  -response.  I  am,  therefore,  limited  to  speak  in 
the  capacity  of  host.  You  have  been  most  eloquently  and  cordially 
welcomed  on  behalf  of  the  state  by  our  esteemed  governor  and  on 
behalf  of  the  city  of  Deadwood  by  the  gentleman  from  Cork,  our 
honored  mayor.  (Cheers.)  Nothing  is  left  to  me  but  the  broad  nation 
as  a  whole,  which  welcomes  you,  and  this  unique  little  section  of  the 
Black  Hills  by  itself,  which  welcomes  you  also. 

The  American  Mining  Congress,  of  course,  represents  the  mining 
industry  in  all  of  its  broad  relations  and  the  mining  industry  in- 
tsluding,  as  it  does,  coal,  iron,  copper — indeed,  all  of  the  metals,  base 
and  precious,  stands  in  point  of  importance  among  the  great  industries 
of  this  country  only  second  to  the  primary  industry  of  agriculture. 
Agriculture,  of  course,  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  feeding  of  our 
population,  to  the  sustaining  of  life;  but  at  the  basis  of  all  OUT  in- 
dustries beyond  that  comes  this  industry  of  mining.  Coal  must  be 
had  to  furnish  fuel  to  warm  the  human  family,  then  metals  must 
be  had — the  basis  from  which  all  the  industries  must  be  carved, 
whether  they  pertain  to  the  broader  utilitarian  industries  or  to  the 
fine  arts,  and  so  the  nation  realizes  that  in  this  association  it  is  indeed 
interested  and  it  welcomes  this  meeting  and  welcomes  it  at  this  place 
at  this  time  and  takes  great  interest  in  its  deliberations. 

But  on  behalf  of  this  little  section  of  the  Black  Hills,  which  has 
been  my  home  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I  desire  to  offer 
a  few  words  of  additional  welcome  to  the  welcome  of  the  city  of 
Deadwood  and  of  the  state  of  South  Dakota  and  it  extends  to  you 
a  generous  and  cordial  greeting.  It  is  indeed  the  real  thing  in  hos- 
pitality, as  you  will  discover  before  you  finish  your  deliberations 
and  your  social  amenities  of  the  week.  The  Black  Hills  people  say  to 
you:  "If  you  see  anything  you  want  take  it.  If  you  want  anything 
you  don't  see  simply  ask  for  it,  and  if  you  should  chance  to  see  any- 
thing you  don't  want  don't  mention  it."  (Cheers.) 

Nature  seems  in  these  Black  Hills  to  have  reached  her  super- 
lative act  in  creation.  Some  one  at  some  time  has  said  that  the 
Black  Hills  was  made  by  Nature  throwing  in  here  all  of  the  leavings 


12  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

after  all  the  rest  of  the  world  had  been  made.  Now  that  suggestion 
was  made,  of  course,  because  of  the  wonderful  variety  of  our  resources 
here.  There  is  practically  nothing  in  mineralogy  that  cannot  be 
found  in  the  Black  Hills,  not  only  precious  metals,  gold  and  silver, 
but  here  we  have  copper,  we  have  iron,  we  have  asbestos,  indeed  at 
the  close  of  this  meeting  or  at  some  time  call  upon  Col.  George  and 
he  will  furnish  you  a  list  of  Black  Hills  metals  which  I  know  he  had 
printed  some  years  ago,  which  is  entirely  too  long  to  be  mentioned 
here.  I  think  because  of  the  multiplicity  of  our  resources  that  remark 
was  .made  of  us  but  the  facts  are  reversed.  Nature  first  selected 
the  choicest  of  everything  she  possessed  and  placed  it  here  and 
what  she  had  left  she  passed  around  to  Nebraska,  Pennsylvania  and 
Idaho,  and  the  other  proud  states  of  this  nation.  (Laughter.)  And  so 
here,  whether  you  come  from  the  standpoint  of  the  mineralogist 
seeking  to  study  the  metals  of  the  earth  or  whether  you  come  as  a 
geologist  to  see  the  marvelous  illustrations  of  geology,  you  will  find 
here  we  have  much  to  invite  your  attention  to.  I  do  not  know  whether 
it  can  be  said  of  any  other  section  or  not — I  do  not  know  of  any  other 
— but  it  can  be  said  of  the  Black  Hills  that  in  many  places  the 
geologist  can  start  from  the  surrounding  foothills  and  by  traveling 
three  miles  into  t£e  interior  of  the  mountains  he  can  find  uplifted  and 
exposed  for  his  investigation  that  represents  one  mile  in  actual  depth 
of  the  earth's  crust.  It  is  the  geologist's  paradise.  If  you  are  a 
geologist  we  welcome  you  to  all  of  this  and  above  all  we  welcome 
you  to  the  hospitality  of  our  homes  in  theso  twin  cities,  Lead  and 
Deadwood. 

You  will  have  an  opportunity  upon  Thursday  of  seeing  what  has 
not  been  given  to  the  public  generally  and  indeed  to  a  very  few 
to  see  in  the  period  of  twenty  years.  You  are  permitted  to  visit 
t'.ie  lower  levels  of  the  Homestake  mine,  wnich  has  been  probably 
told  you  to  be  the  greatest  gold  mine  in  the  world,  and  I  understand 
that  Mr.  Grier  does  not  pretend  to  be  at  all  particular  or  exclusive  as 
to  who  may  visit  that  mine  upon  this  occasion.  If  I  am  correctly  in- 
formed not  alone  these  delegates  but  all  visitors  generally  who  are 
attracted  here  will  have  an  opportunity  to  visit  the  mine.  You  will 
there  see  what  is  typical  of  Black  Hills  gold  mining.  Gold  mining 
in  the  Black  Hills  is  not  a  speculation;  it  is  a  manufacturing  industry, 
and  I  undertake  to  say  there  is  no  industry  as  stable  or  certain  in 
manufacturing  as  making  gold  in  the  Black  Hills.  Our  ore  bodies^ 
while  comparatively  low  grade,  are  of  vast  extent  and  as  a  -rule  their 
richness  is  comparatively  uniform  so  that  it  may  be  told  from  day 
to  day  with  almost  absolute  certainty  how  much  four  thousand  tons 
of  ore,  for  instance  at  the  Homestake  mine,  produces  in  precious 
metals  and  the  production  is  practically  the  same  every  twenty-four 
hours.  The  product  when  made  the  yellow  product  of  gold,  is  the 
most  stable  and  fluctuates  less  in  value  than  any  other,  and  so  you 
could  not  cite  an  industry  of  manufacture  anywhere  that  is  so  stable 
or  so  certain  as  gold  mining  in  the  Black  Hills  when  it  is  followed 
with  intelligence,  with  capital  and  with  courage.  I  was  not  called 
out  here,  I  apprehend,  to  pose  as  a  promoter  for  the  great  mines  of 
this  country,  but  I  have  such  great  confidence  in  it  t"hat  I  would  not 
have  announced  these  important  facts  to  you  at  the  beginning  of  this 
Congress,  knowing  you  have  an  opportunity  to  corroborate  them, 
did  I  not  know  them  to  be  true. 

So  we  say  again  you  are  welcome  to  the  Black  Hills  and  may 
this  indeed  be  a  red  letter  meeting  in  the  history  of  the  meetings  of 
the  American  Mining  Congress.  (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
delegates  to  the  advisability  of  leaving  your  credentials  with  the 
secretary  at  the  Franklin  hotel.  A  committee  on  credentials  will  be 
appointed  at  the  noon  hour  to  pass  on  credentials.  Please  leave  them 
with  the  secretary  so  that  they  may  be  properly  accredited  this 
afternoon. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  13 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  have  a  motion  to 
make,  but  before  doing  so  I  desire  to  state  to  the  delegates  and  the 
visiting  members  here  that  the  Deadwood  Business  Club  extends  all 
courtesy  to  you;  that  you  need  not  wait  an  invitation,  that  you  need 
not  wait  for  a  card,  but  you  will  make  use  of  the  rooms  of  the  Dead- 
wood  Business  Club  as  though  they  were  your  own.  (Cheers.) 

I  also  desire  to  call  you  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  city  of 
Deadwood,  through  its  committee,  has  gathered  a  collection  repre- 
senting the  mineral  wealth  of  the  Black  Hills,  and  which  is  displayed 
on  the  ground  floor  of  the  Bullock  hotel.  We  trust  that  you  will  all 
visit  it  and  study  it  carefully.  There  will  be  a  committee  in  attend- 
ance at  all  times  to  give  you  such  information  as  you  may  desire. 

RUSSELL  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  I  desire  to 
move  you  that  a  committee  on  credentials  of  three  be  appointed  by  the 
chair  to  act  on  the  credentials  presented  to  the  secretary. 

The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president,  duly  seconded  and 
carried. 

RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  I  would  move 
you  sir  that  a  committee  on  resolutions  of  twenty  be  appointed,  to 
which  committee  all  resolutions  shall  be  first  referred  before  report- 
ing to  the  convention,  and  I  would  also  add  to  that  motion  that  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  be  the  Hon.  E.  W.  Martin. 

The  motion  was  stated  by  the  p-resident,  duly  seconded  and 
carried. 

MR.  DAVIS,  OF  MICHIGAN:  I  move  we  adjourn  until  two 
o'clock  this  afternoon. 

The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president,  duly  seconded  and 
carried. 

The  American  Mining  Congress  adjourned  to  September  8,  1903, 
2  P.  M. 

September  8,  1903,  2  o'clock  P.  M. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     Congress  will  be  in  order. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Owing  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Darton 
has  been  unexpectedly  called  away  the  program  committee  has  found 
it  necessary  to  make  a  slight  modification  of  the  program  for  this 
afternoon.  Therefore  at  this  time  you  will  have  the  pleasure  of 
listening  to  Mr.  Nelson  H.  Darton,  superintendent  in  the  work  of  the 
United  States  Geological  survey  in  the  Black  Hills. 

NELSON  H.  DARTON:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  One 
of  the  principal  features  of  the  work  of  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey  is  the  study  of  the  mineral  resources  of  the  country.  Many  of  its 
most  detailed  surveys  are  directed  to  the  important  mineral  districts. 
Accordingly  the  Black  Hills  have  received  much  consideration. 

For  several  years  surveys  have  been  in  progress  and  they  are 
now  being  continued  from  time  to  time  with  a  view  of  obtaining  all 
available  data  regarding  the  mineral  resources  of  the  Black  Hills  and 
the  light  which  they  throw  on  the  philosophy  of  mineral  bearing  for- 
mations and  on  the  occurrence  of  ores  and ''their  extensions  to  any 
other  portions  of  the  Black  Hills  district  than  those  which  are  now 
known  to  contain  ores.  The  purpose  of  the  survey  is  to  make  a  com- 
plete investigation  of  Black  Hills  mineral  resources.  Various  men  are 
employed  in  the  work  and  have  been  from  time  to  time.  Some  study 
the  stratified  rocks,  the  sandstones,  shales  and  other  formations 
surrounding  the  Hills;  others  study  the  crystalline  rocks  in  the  cen- 
tral nucleus  area  of  the  Hills,  so  the  work  is  in  the  hands  of  spe- 
cialists, men  who  have  made  a  particular  study  of  the  different 
branches  of  geology.  The  science  is  so  highly  specialized  that 
almost  any  section  requires  the  attention  of  a  number  of  special 
students  and  the  Geological  Survey  has  provided  that  sort  of  service 
in  the  study  of  the  geology  of  the  Black  Hills. 


14  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

The  first  work  that  was  done  was  the  preparation  of  the  topo- 
graphical maps.  It  is  altogether  important  in  working  out  geological 
relations  and  understanding  the  distribution  of  formations  and  their 
significance  to  have  an  accurate  map  and  one  of  the  principal 
functions  of  the  Geological  Survey  is  to  prepare  very  accurate  maps. 
They  are  surveyed  by  civil  engineers  and  on  a  suitable  scale  for  the 
representation  of  the  topographical  features.  The  ups  and  downs  of 
the  land  are  shown  very  accurately  by  contour  lines  and  the  water 
courses  and  the  lines  along  which  drainage  would  thus  flow  in  time 
of  rain  are  all  shown  very  accurately,  so  that  the  map  forms  means 
of  locating  all  geological  data.  Besides,  they  are  of  great  service 
to  persons  who  reside  in  the  region  and  who  travel  through  it.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  Survey  has  projected  a  very  accurate  system  of  maps 
for  the  Black  Hills  and  they  are  nearly  completed.  Men  are  now  in 
the  field  extending  the  work  and  finishing  some  of  the  portions  of  the 
outlying  area,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  Black  Hills  region  has  been 
accurately  mapped.  This  has  required  a  great  deal  of  time  but  the 
result  is  one  that  I  know  will  be  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to 
those  who  live  in  the  Hills  and  interested  in  its  mineral  resources 
and  geology. 

The  study  of  the  mineral  resources  Has  not  "been  completed  by 
any  means.  Several  of  our  geologists  have  been  in  the  Northern 
Hills  in  seasons  past  studying  the  wonderful  resources  of  mineral 
deposits  here,  deposits  that  are  very  diverse  and  present  many 
unique  and  unusual  features.  Their  study  is  certain  to  throw  a  great 
deal  of  light  on  the  philosophy  of  mineral  vein  formation.  We  learn 
that  the  Black  Hills  show  many  obscure  conditions  under  which  ore 
occurs  and  which  are  most  interesting,  and  if  studied  intelligently 
will  explain  the  existence  and  extension  of  similar  ore  in  other  places. 

Then  the  formation  that  will  be  put  on  record  is  very  extensive. 
We  have  now  in  preparation  a  standard  publication  of  the  survey, 
a  folio  as  it  is  called,  that  covers  the  entire  region  about  Lead  and 
Deadwood  showing  the  different  geological  formations,  and  has  the 
different  contacts  and  different  rocks  precisely  located.  These  maps 
are  made,  as  I  spoke  of  before,  showing  all  the  topographical  features 
and  a  person  who  can  locate  himself  on  a  map  of  that  sort  can  follow 
the  different  geographical  features  and  know  just  what  they  signify. 
This  folio  is  now  being  prepared  for  engraving  and  in  the  course  of 
a  few  months  will  be  published  and  will  be  published  in  the  usual 
method  of  survey  publications  for  distribution  at  the  cost  of  printing 
and  engraving,  twenty-five  or  fifty  cents  apiece,  which  is,  of  course,  a 
very  cheap  thing  and  puts  it  within  the  reach  of  anyone. 

Then  there  will  be  published  a  special  report  besides  that  on 
the  mineral  region  of  the  northern  half  of  the  Black  Hills.  We  have 
already  published  a  report  on  the  geology  of  the  southern  half  of  the 
Black  Hills,  especially  the  sedimentary  formations  and  all  informa- 
tion available  that  throws  light  on  the  prospects  for  obtaining  under- 
ground waters  on  the  flanking  of  the  Hills  and  regions  to  the 'east 
and  south.  One  special  branch  of  our  Survey  is  investigating  the 
piospects  for  obtaining  underground  waters.  Artesian  wells  will 
probably  be  a  success  in  a  wide  area  east  of  the  Black  Hills.  The 
district  now  is  very  sparsely  settled  and  there  is  much  difficulty  in 
obtaining  water  for  domestic  use,  irrigation  or  other  purposes.  We 
are  obtaining  evidence  from  the  study  of  the  geological  structure 
that  shows  that  such  waters  are  available  for  wells  of  reasonable 
depth.  Also,  under  the  Reclamation  Act  we  will  be  able  to  sink  wells 
to  determine  whether  those  waters  are  really  there  and  as  to  how 
high  the  water  will  rise,  so  that  they  can  be  fully  determined  and 
some  definite  encouragement  for  sinking  wells  be  held  out.  That 
work  is  also  being  extended  into  the  northern  Black  Hills.  Mr. 
O'Hara,  and  some  others,  are  studying  the  geological  structure  very 
carefully  so  that  we  may  ascertain  how  far  the  Belle  Fourche  artesian 
basis  extends.  There  is  really  more  need  for  water  in  some  of  the 
country  immediately  adjoining  the  Black  Hills  than  for  information 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  15 

regarding  the  minteral  resources  because  it  affects  the  interests  of 
a  large  number  of  people,  so  that  the  Survey  is  devoting  a  great  deal 
of  attention  to  this  question  of  underground  waterflow.  These  Hills 
are  due  to  the  upheaval  as  Professors  O'Hara  and  Todd  will  tell  you, 
of  the  earth's  crust,  that  brings  to  view  a  great  many  of  the  rocks 
that  underlie  the  plains  to  the  east  and  north.  We  can  study  the  up- 
turned edges  of  these  rocks  about  the  Black  Hills  in  a  very  definite 
way  indeed  and  learn  what  the  conditions  are  likely  to  be  in  the 
adjoining  plains  under  which  the  rock  are  known  to  dip. 

Another  feature  of  our  geological  studies  of  the  Black  Hills 
will  be  a  model  that  is  to  be  prepared,  or  is  now  being  prepared,  for 
the  St.  Louis  Exposition.  It  is  provided  for  by  funds  appropriated  by 
the  state,  and,  as  I  understand  it,  the  Black  Hills  people  in  part,  and 
is  to  represent  the  relief  of  the  entire  Black  Hills  district,  to  show  in 
a  model  about  8  feet  long  the  shape  of  the  country,  the  topographical 
features  of  the  country  with  the  ups  and  downs  in  miniature  and  on 
that  will  be  represented  the  geology  of  the  entire  district.  Also  in 
another  model  of  a  portion  of  the  region  on  somewhat  larger  scale, 
the  principal  features  relating  to  the  .mineral  resources  of  the  northern 
hills  will  be  represented.  That  will  be  ready  in  the  course  of  a  month 
or  two  and  will  be  exhibited  at  the  Exposition  as  I  said  before.  The 
survey  will  publish  from  time  to  time  folios  covering  portions  of  the 
Black  Hills  to  the  south  and  east.  One  soon  to  come  out  will  relate 
to  the  Newcastle  and  Cambria  coal  fields  and  discuss  the  relations  of 
oil  in  the  region  about  Newcastle.  This  has  excited  a  good  deal  of 
attention  and  the  country  has  been  exploited  for  oil  to  a  considerable 
extent.  There  will  be  folios  describing  the  geology,  mineral  resources, 
various  mines,  prospects  for  underground  water  and  setting  forth  all 
information  available  on  those  subjects  on  a  large  scale,  so  that  we 
have  in  all  half  a  dozen  or  more  productions  to  prepare  in  the  course 
of  the  next  two  or  three  years  that  will  throw  light  on  the  geology  and 
mineral  resources  of  the  Black  Hills.  (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  have  appointed  the  committee  on 
Credentials  and  Resolutions  and  I  will  now  ask.  the  Secretary  to  read 
the  appointments. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  the  names  of  the  Committees  as  follows: 

COMMITTEE  ON  RESOLUTIONS. 

1.  E.  W.   Martin,  chairman    South  Dakota 

2.  J.   H.   Lynch Montana 

3.  George   W.    Dorsey Nebraska 

4.  Ed.  F.   Brown Colorado 

5.  L.    M.    Davis , Michigan 

6.  W.    S.   Mears .Missouri 

7.  O.   E.   Jackson Idaho 

8.  Lyman   A.    Sisley Illinois 

9.  E.    B.    Spaulding Connecticut 

10.  E.   V.   Drake '.  .Oregon 

11.  Ivan   E.   Goodner Wisconsin 

12.  George    M.    Bennett Minnesota 

13.  Asa    L.    Ricker Maine 

14.  Henry    Earle New    York 

15.  Col.    Thos.    Ewing California 

16.  Lewis    G.    Wright Ohio 

17.  C.   F.   Heckler Pennsylvania 

18.  T.    A.    Harding , Iowa 

1 9.  C.    B.    Simmons Indiana 

20.  L.    Bradford    Prince Mexico 

COMMITTEE   ON   CREDENTIALS. 

Richard   C.   Patterson,   Chairman Nebraska 

W.    S.    Tarbell Colorado 

C.   A.    Hutchinson..  ..Illinois 


16  OFFICIAL,    PROCEEDINGS 

SECRETARY  MIAHON:  I  will  state  for  the  benefit  of  the  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  that  I  have  the  papers  here 
ready  to  turn  over  to  him  whenever  he  desires. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Program  Committee  has  set 
aside  this  time  for  what  they  term  the  "President's  Annual  Address". 
It  was  thought  best  by  the  Executive  Committee  that  as  the  American 
Mining  Congress  is  now  in  process  of  permanent  organization  that  it 
would  be  best  for  the  president  to  present  to  you  some  of  the  reasons 
why  or  claim  that  it  has  to  a  right  to  exist,  and  as  that  must  become 
official,  it  would  be  better  to  prepare  it  in  the  form  of  a  paper  that  it 
might  be  more  accurately  stated  than  it  could  be  done  by  an  off  hand 
statement.  Therefore,  with  your  permission,  I  will  present  to  you 
these  thoughts  for  your  consideration. 

PRESIDENT'S  ANNUAL  ADDRESS. 

It  seems  to  me  a  cause  for  special  congratulation  that  The  Amer- 
ican Mining  Congress  should  be  privileged  to  hold  its  first  annual 
session  at  this  place,  amid  surroundings  for  which  nature  has  done 
so  much,  in  a  locality  so  justly  famous  as  a  center  of  mining  industry, 
in  a  region  so  distinguished  as  the  Black  Hills  for  the  strength  of 
character  and  progressive  spirit  of  its  mining  men.  For  many  of  you 
this  is  perhaps  a  first  visit,  and  judging  from  .my  own  experience,  I 
am  able  to  assure  you  that  you  cannot  sojourn  here  for  any  length  of 
time,  without  feeling  the  inspiration  of  good  fellowship,  without  being 
conscious  of  the  intellectual  stimulus  which  always  comes  to  men 
from  associating  with  those  in  the  front  rank  of  their  business  or 
profession.  You  cannot  be  men  of  observation  and  fail  to  recognize 
the  wonderful  advantages  with  which  this  mining  district  has  been 
endowed,  the  sagacity  and  foresight  with  which  those  advantages  have 
been  utilized.  And  from  a  social  point  of  view,  I  am  sure  that  no  one 
could  come  within  range  of  the  generous  welcome  which  has  been 
accorded  us  in  Deadwood  and  Lead,  without  being  reminded  anew  of 
the  sturdy  individuality  and  simple  courage  of  mining  men  as  a  class, 
not  easily  spoiled  by  success,  or  daunted  by  apparent  failure. 

At  our  last  session  you  were  constantly  confronted  with  the  con- 
tingency that  this  Congress  was  destined  to  be  a  failure,  and  that,  at 
the  best,  its  continued  life  and  usefulness  hung  in  the  balance.  But 
at  thisi  hour  you  are  buoyed  up  with  the  conviction  that  The  American 
Mining  Congress  is  and  must  be  a  success.  The  former  apprehension 
was  depressing,  the  latter  conviction  is  inspiring.  The  anticipation 
of  failure  paralyzes  action;  the  realization  of  success  nourishes  hope, 
inspires  endeavor,  achieves  what  it  wills  to  achieve.  Therefore,  I 
particularly  congratulate  you  that  this  session  is  to  be  held  amid 
influences  so  in  harmony  with  the  hopes  of  your  organization. 

The  American  Mining  Congress  stands  before  the  world  today  as 
a  legal  entity.  Its  aims  and  purposes  are  briefly  set  forth  in  its 
Articles  of  Incorporation,  now  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  Colorado,  the  state  of  its  nativity.  In  compliance  with  instructions 
received  at  your  last  session,  our  Executive  Committee  has  incor- 
porated this  body  under  the  name  of  "The  American  Mining  Con- 
gress". Colorado  and  Denver  were  selected  as  the  home  of  this  Con- 
gress, first,  because  the  laws  of  that  state  permit  of  the  elasticity 
necessary  for  an  organization  of  this  character;  second,  because  Col- 
orado is  a  great  mining  state  in  almost  all  departments  of  mining 
industry,  and  can  give  valuable  support  locally  to  such  an  organiza- 
tion; third,  because  Denver  is  the  largest  city  in  the  intermountain 
region,  most  centrally  located  with  reference  to  the  great  bulk  of  our 
mineral  production,  and  accessible  from  all  directions. 

In  this  connection  I  may  also  say  that  a  body  of  by-laws,  designed 
to  regulate  and  foster  the  development  of  the  Congress,  will  be  pre- 
sented for  your  consideration. 

One  other  quite  important  matter  has  to  some  extent  demanded 
the  attention  of  your  executive  officers  since  you  last  met.  At  Wash- 
ington last  winter,  when  the  bill  for  the  organization  of  the  Depart- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  17 

ment  of  Commerce  and  Labor  had  been  introduced  and  was  under  con- 
sideration, representatives  of  our  body  made  strenuous  efforts  to  have 
that  bill  modified  so  as  to  provide  for  a  separate  Department  of  Mines 
and  Mining.  We  would  have  preferred  to  have  this  agitation  post- 
poned, until  we  were  in  a  stronger  position  to  assert  our  claims  for 
recognition,  but  the  issue  was  precipitated  by  the  determination  of 
the  advocates  of  the  Commerce  and  Labor  bill  to  carry  that  measure 
through.  During  the  pendency  of  that  bill  a  circular  was  issued  by 
your  Executive  Committee,  embodying  in  concise  form  the  arguments 
in  favor  of  the  immediate  creation  of  a  Department  of  Mines  and 
Mining.  This  circular  was  sent  to  the  members  of  the  House  and 
Senate,  and  to  the  President.  Although  a  number  of  our  congressional 
representatives  from  western  states  stood  manfully  by  us  in  our  fight 
to  secure  this  recognition,  I  am  free  to  admit  that  there  was  no  wide- 
spread popular  sentiment  in  evidence  at  that  time,  such  as  would  have 
justified  Congress  in  granting  the  mining  industry  recognition  of  this 
character.  So  far  as  direct  results  were  concerned,  our  endeavors  in 
this  direction  were  no  doubt  doomed  to  failure  on  that  occasion,  but 
we  felt  called  upon  to  do  something  under  the  circumstances,  the 
agitation  was  forced  upon  us,  and  we  did  what  we  could.  The  exper- 
ience, however,  has  not  been  without  its  value.  It  shows  that  official 
recognition  of  the  mining  industry,  on  the  lines  that  agriculture  has 
been  recognized,  is  a  question  of  time  and  education — education  not 
only  of  the  politicians,  but  of  the  people;  for  the  politicians  will 
quickly  enough  respond  to  the  popular  demand  when  it  comes.  In  the 
second  place,  this  experience  proves  that  the  results  desired  in  this 
direction  can  only  be  achieved  by  a  powerful  central  organization, 
backed  by  numerous  affiliated  local  organizations,  having  its  ramifica- 
tions in  every  mining  camp,  presided  over  by  men  of  prominence, 
ability  and  known  interest. 

I  therefore  particularly  wish  to  impress  upon  all  my  fellow  dele- 
gates here,  the  importance  of  doing  everything  in  our  power  between 
this  and  the  next  session  of  our  Congress,  to  build  up  and  develop 
local  mining  associations  in  our  respective  localities.  And  when  these 
organizations  have  been  formed,  keep  them  alive — don't  let  interest 
flag.  Base  the  membership  in  each  instance  upon  your  practical 
mining  men;  and  if  any  one  who  wishes  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of 
such  an  organization,  desires  information  as  to  the  ways  and  means 
of  organizing,  the  results  to  be  aimed  at,  the  best  method  to  make 
such  an  organization  a  permanent  success  and  a  benefit  to  all  con- 
cerned, I  cannot  do  better  than  direct  such  inquiries  to  that  splendid 
working  model,  the  Black  Hills  Mining  Men's  Association,  which  we 
find  in  such  active  and  beneficent  operation  here.  (Applause.) 

So  much  for  the  record  of  the  past  year.  Now  in  regard  to  the 
present  and  in  regard  to  the  future,  it  is  most  natural  to  ask,  and 
every  thoughtful  delegate  will  be  apt  to  formulate  the  inquiry,  in  his 
own  mind  at  least;  What  is  the  aim  of  this  Congress,  and  what  good 
is  there  to  be  derived  from  it?  What  are  we  here  for?  Is  it  to  have  a 
good  time  merely,  to  meet  friends  and  acquaintances  in  the  same  line 
of  business,  to  form  pleasant  or  profitable  business  or  social  relations, 
to  sell  mining  properties  and  float  stock?  I  presume  that  any  of  these 
subjects  may  properly  be  incidental  to  our  presence  here,  but  still  it 
seems  to  .me  that  if  The  American  Mining  Congress  is  to  attain  the 
highest  measure  of  success  and  permanence  as  an  institution,  there 
are  greater  things  than  these  in  store  for  it.  The  exchange  of  views 
upon  current  subjects,  and  the  acquisition  of  information,  is  certainly 
an  important  part  of  our  business  here;  but  the  ultimate  aim  of  our 
organization  must  be  to  place  the  mining  industry  as  a  whole  upon  a 
plane  commensurate  with  its  importance.  The  affairs  of  the  Congress 
must  be  conducted  in  a  business  manner,  and  on  a  business  basis, 
such  as  will  commend  it  to  the  best  business  thought  of  the  day. 
Our  annual  sessions  must  be  of  a  character  that  will  attract  the  best 
talent,  whether  it  be  in  mining  pure  and  simple,  or  in  the  great  busi- 
ness enterprises  connected  with  and  springing  from  mining,  or  in  the 


18  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

scientific  and  technical  departments  of  mining.  I  think  we  are  mak- 
ing progress  in  this  respect,  and  there  is  of  course  always  room  for 
improvement.  In  short,  this  Congress  must  arouse  so  much  interest 
throughout  the  whole  country,  must  be  the  means  of  giving  the  public 
so  much  valuable  information  about  mining,  that  the  people  will  at 
last  realize  the  importance  and  dignity  of  everything  connected  with 
the  proper  development  and  utilization  of  this  great  source  of  raw 
material;  it  must  be  the  means  of  finally  opening  the  eyes  of  our  law- 
makers to  the  necessity  of  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining, 
according  in  rank  with  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  recently 
created  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor.  (Applause.) 

Now  we  have  no  quarrel  with  the  Department  of  Agriculture  or 
the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor.  The  establishment  of  these 
departments  and  their  extremely  useful  activities,  illustrate  and  em- 
phasize what  was  said  by  your  Executive  Committee  in  its  memorial 
to  Congress  last  winter,  with  reference  to  the  importance  of  purely 
industrial  departments  in  modern  administration,  and  perhaps  I  can- 
not do  better  in  this  connection  than  to  quote  a  few  paragraphs  from 
that  memorial: 

"The  hour  has  arrived  in  the  destiny  of  nations  when  the  ability 
to  produce  abundance  of  raw  material  is  of  more  importance  than 
the  ability  to  place  armies  in  the  field,  when  national  power  and 
influence  is  extended,  not  so  much  by  means  of  guns  and  ships,  as  by 
being  prepared  to  sell  most  cheaply. 

"The  warfare  of  the  future  is  to  be  an  industrial  warfare.  The 
rivalry  of  the  future  between  nations  will  be  less  a  rivalry  of  brute 
force,  but  more  a  contest  to  produce  at  the  lowest  cost. 

"In  the  past  governments  have  collected  and  spent  taxes  for  mil- 
itary armaments.  In  the  future,  if  they  are  to  survive  in  the  race  for 
supremacy,  they  must  spend  the  money  of  the  people  in  equipping  the 
people  to  fight  their  industrial  battles. 

"This  is  the  secret  of  a  growing  tendency  among  civilized  nations, 
the  institution  of  industrial  departments  of  administration,  which  in 
practical  influence  and  importance  are  co-ordinate  with  their  political 
departments. 

"It  was  upon  this  theory  that  fourteen  years  ago,  Congress  passed 
a  law  creating  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  in  order  to  give  govern- 
mental direction  and  supervision  to  one  of  the  great  primary  sources 
of  raw  material. 

"It  is  upon  the  same  theory  of  rapidly  increasing  importance  of 
the  purely  industrial  functions  of  modern  government,  that  we  now 
ask  for  the  enactment  of  a  law  creating  a  Department  of  Mines  and 
Mining,  the  other  great  source  of  raw  material  for  our  manufactures 
and  of  profit  for  our  lines  of  transportation." 

As  I  say,  we  have  no  quarrel  with  the  Department  of  Commerce 
and  Labor.  I  am  sure  that  mining  ,men  everywhere  will  gladly 
co-operate  with  the  officials  of  this  department  in  any  line  of  action 
that  promises  better  things  for  the  mining  industry,  whether  it  be  in 
the  direction  of  proper  governmental  regulation  and  inspection,  scien- 
tific research  by  government  experts,  or  the  gathering  of  more  accur- 
ate and  detailed  information  in  regard  to  the  mining  of  ores  and 
production  of  metals  by  government  statisticians.  This  new  Depart- 
ment was  bound  to  come,  and  we  hail  its  coming  as  a  healthy  mani- 
festation of  the  tendency  referred  to,  because  to  that  extent  it 
strengthens  a  weak  point  in  our  system  of  administrative  government. 

But  we  still  say,  nevertheless,  that  Mines  and  Mining  should  have 
had  precedence;  that  the  raw  materials  which  are  the  first  condition 
and  indispensable  prerequisite  of  all  manufacture,  all  commerce,  all 
prosperity  and  all  civilization,  ought  by  right  to  have  prior  considera- 
tion at  the  hands  of  our  law-givers  in  the  establishment  of  these 
industrial  departments.  The  proper  beginning  was  made  with  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  and,  logically,  the  next  to  follow  would 
have  been  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining,  the  other  great  leading 
source  of  raw  material.  These  industrial  departments  of  administra- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  19 

tion  should  begin  where  production  begins.  Raw  material,  in  its 
primitive  form,  is  the  working  capital  with  which  the  God  of  Nature 
has  endowed  the  human  race,  and,  according  to  the  dictates  of  natural 
justice,  the  fish  in  the  sea,  the  timber  in  the  forest,  the  iron  ore  under 
the  surface  and  the  fertile  soil  above  it,  constitute  a  natural  bounty, 
in  which  each  of  the  children  of  men  has  an  indefeasible  inheritance. 
On  abstract  grounds  possibly  there  is  even  more  justification  for 
governmental  supervision  and  protection  of  mining  than  there  is  for 
governmental  supervision  and  protection  of  agriculture,  because  those 
disposed  to  greed  and  armed  with  power  can  monopolize  the  produc- 
tion of  coal  or  copper,  but  they  cannot  monopolize  the  produc- 
tion of  corn.  Again,  there  is  only  a  fixed  and  limited  quantity  of  the 
ore  in  existence  from  which  the  useful  metals  are  produced.  Scientists 
already  look  forward  to  the  time  when  the  veins  of  coal  will  be  ex- 
haustd,  but  the  earth  still  contains  and  constantly  renews  the  fertility 
required  for  countless  future  harvests  of  wheat. 

I  make  these  remarks  in  no  querulous  spirit,  for  our  time  will 
come,  and  we  can  afford  to  wait.  The  logic  of  events,  the  irresistible 
force  of  a  controlling  tendency  in  human  progress,  must  ultimately 
compel  the  proper  recognition  of  the  mining  industry  at  the  hands  of 
this  government,  as  one  of  the  necessities  of  governmental  organiza- 
tion. The  leading  European  nations  already  have  their  departments 
of  Mines  and  Mining,  by  which  their  governments  are  placed  in  close 
touch  with  this  great  and  important  source  of  production,  and  thereby 
enabled  to  intelligently  carry  out  plans  for  its  development  and  pro- 
tection. Now  the  industrial  rivalry  between  Europe  and  the  United 
States  is  becoming  so  keen  that  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  an  armed 
strife,  in  which  every  nerve  is  strained,  every  expedient  resorted  to, 
and  in  which,  on  their  side,  governmental  power  and  influence  is 
openly  enlisted.  We  have  not  gone  so  far  as  Europe  in  the  direction 
of  governmental  aid  to  industry,  partly  because  the  mechanical  genius 
of  our  workmen  and  the  executive  ability  of  our  captains  of  industry, 
coupled  with  our  vast  stores  of  cheap  raw  material,  have  thus  far 
made  OUT  economic  preeminence  comparatively  easy  of  maintenance. 
But  let  us  not  make  the  .mistake  of  over  confidence.  Foreign  capital- 
ists are  already  imitating  American  methods,  and  they  have  the 
advantage  of  much  cheaper  labor.  The  centralized  governments  of 
Europe  are  marvels  of  bureaucratic  organization,  and  when  they 
definitely  turn  this  organization  from  the  field  of  military  rivalry  to 
the  field  of  industrial  rivalry,  the  results  will  be  startling.  They  have 
already  entered  upon  that  path,  and  they  consider  it  as  much  the  bus- 
iness of  government  to  give  the  producer,  in  every  field,  an  advantage 
over  his  foreign  rival,  as  they  do  to  keep  a  fortress  equipped  for 
defense  or  a  regiment  ready  to  march.  It  is  these  powerful  and 
efficient  governmental  organizations,  whose  energies  are  being  already 
directed  into  industrial  channels,  that  the  United  States  .must  cope 
with  in  its  future  striving  for  the  world's  trade,  so  that  it  must  become 
more  and  more  the  business  of  this  government,  to  equip  its  people  to 
fight  their  industrial  battles. 

One  of  the  things  that  makes  America  distinctly  American,  is  the 
individuality  of  the  citizens,  and  hence  it  is  that  we  instinctively  seek 
individual  opportunity  and  national  growth  on  a  basis  consistent  with 
the  highest  individual  development.  This  principle  has  always  been 
a  watchword  of  the  great  republic.  But  now  thoughtful  men  are  com- 
ing to  see  that  the  principle  must  have  a  new  application  in  order  to 
maintain  its  old  efficiency.  "We  say  now,  as  we  always  have  said; 
give  the  individual  a  chance,  give  him  industrial  freedom  and  oppor- 
tunity. But  formerly  in  this  country,  the  opportunity  came  from  the 
vast  tracts  of  fertile  land  to  be  had  for  the  taking  in  the  virgin  forests, 
the  undispoiled  fisheries,  the  placer  gold  on  the  surface  of  the  ground. 
These  industrial  opportunities  for  the  individual,  are  in  a  great 
measure  passing  away;  some  of  them  have  already  disappeared  for- 
ever. On  the  other  hand,  the  industrial  competition  of  Europe  is  con- 
stantly growing  keener.  How  then  shall  the  state  of  industrial  free- 


20  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

dom,  the  good  chance  in  life  for  the  common,  ordinary  man,  which 
has  been  such  a  source  of  inspiration  to  our  progress  in  the  past,  be 
insured  and  perpetuated  for  the  future?  Again,  I  say,  there  is  only  one 
answer  to  this  question;  our  government  must  help  its  people  fight 
their  industrial  battles. 

This  is  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  and  I  firmly  believe  the  time  is  coming,  when  that  sentiment 
will  be  true  industrially  just  as  much  as  it  is  true  politically.  The 
proper  application  of  this  principle  to  our  industrial  interests  will 
mean  something  entirely  different  from  the  bureaucratic  surveillance 
if  I  may  use  the  term,  which  the  paternal  governments  of  Europe 
exercise  in  the  industrial  field;  for  there  government  is  looked  upon  as 
something  separated  from  the  governed  and  above  them,  while  here 
it  is  but  the  expression  of  their  sovereign  will. 

Now  it  is  common  knowledge  what  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
has  done  for  the  farmer,  how  it  has  broadened  his  markets  by  the 
systematic  work  of  its  agents  in  foreign  countries,  how  it  has  diffused 
and  popularized  much  needed  information  concerning  crops,  soils,  and 
tillage,  how  effectively  it  has  assisted  the  cultivator  in  fighting  the 
pests  that  destroy  his  crops.  It  has  invested  agriculture  with  a  new 
dignity  and  helped  to  make  it  a  scientific  occupation.  We  say  that 
the  mining  prospector  has  just  as  good  a  right  to  scientific  information 
from  the  government  concerning  mineral  formations,  the  character  of 
various  ores  and  their  proper  treatment,  for  he  too  is  a  producer  of  the 
raw  material  that  is  a  condition  of  all  resultant  production,  and  this 
cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  government  may  give  him  just  the 
industrial  chance  that  he  needs.  (Applause.)  The  farmer  can  get  a 
bulletin  from  the  agricultural  department  that  will  tell  him  how  to 
supply  lacking  ingredients  in  his  soil,  and  we  assert  that  the  average 
working  miner,  the  man  who  is  trying  to  make  the  most  of  his  indus- 
trial chances,  the  intelligent  producer  and  good  citizen  that  we  all 
know  has  an  equally  just  claim  to  a  bulletin  from  a  Department  of 
Mines  and  Mining  supplying  him  with  the  technical  information  in  his 
industrial  field  that  may  be  vital  to  his  success.  (Applause.) 

Through  the  agricultural  department  the  government  makes  elab- 
orate experiments  in  the  cultivation  of  tea,  in  order,  if  possible,  to 
open  up  a  new  possibility  for  American  agriculture.  It  ransacks  the 
globe  to  find  a  remedy  for  the  San  Jose  scale  in  fruit  trees,  so  as  to 
insure  the  orchardist  against  the  risk  of  diminished  profits.  Now, 
bearing  in  mind  this  principle,  the  development  of  our  supplies  of  raw 
material  as  a  public  use,  we  affirm  that  it  is  just  as  much  a  public 
service  to  prosecute  the  exhaustive  geological  researches  in  each 
mining  district  which  will  make  the  work  of  the  prospector  and  prac- 
tical miner  easier,  more  certain,  and  therefore  more  remunerative. 
(Applause.)  No  doubt  if  a  private  individual  had  discovered  a  remedy 
for  the  San  Jose  scale,  his  first  step  would  have  been  to  take  out  a 
patent,  if  possible,  so  as  to  be  enabled  to  levy  tribute  for  years  to 
come  upon  all  who  desired  to  use  it.  But  the  government  experts  are 
authorized  to  devote  the  time  and  money  necessary  for  this  investiga- 
tion, the  remedy  is  found,  and  it  is  free  to  all.  No  one  thinks  of  ques- 
tioning this  exercise  of  governmental  power;  no  one  doubts  its 
beneficence. 

Moreover,  Congress  has  recently  enacted  very  important  legisla- 
tion looking  to  the  reclamation  of  our  arid  lands  through  governmental 
cooperation.  This  means  a  great  deal  to  us  in  the  far  West,  and  some 
of  our  eastern  friends  were  at  first  very  much  opposed  to  it,  but  it 
is  now  generally  admitted  to  be  a  proper  subject  of  governmental 
concern,  since  it  is  for  the  best  interest  of  the  whole  nation  that  these 
immense  tracts  of  desert  but  fertile  land  should  be  reclaimed  and 
inhabited. 

Now  turn  again  to  the  mining  industry.  It  is  stated  upon  scien- 
tific authority,  that  even  with  all  the  improved  processes  lately 
invented  and  successfully  applied,  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
known  valuable  gold-bearing  material  in  this  country  can  as  yet  be 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  21 

utilized.  Many  extensive  mining  districts  are  still  undeveloped, 
because  the  ore  is  too  low  grade  or  too  refractory  to  be  worked  with 
profit.  These  problems  will,  of  course,  be  solved,  the  necessary  pro- 
cesses and  treatment  will  be  discovered,  and  in  all  probability  this 
will  be  done  by  scientific  experts  in  the  employ  of  private  capitalists, 
who  will  thereby  be  enabled  to  tax  such  mining  districts  almost  at 
will  for  years  to  come.  I  do  not  decry  the  enterprise  of  private  capi- 
tal; it  is  worthy  of  its  reward,  but  I  simply  ask:  why  should  not  these 
researches  and  investigations  in  the  field  of  mining,  as  well  as  in 
agriculture  and  horticulture,  be  prosecuted  at  the  public  expense,  by 
the  people  and  for  the  people,  and  the  results  achieved  be  made  free 
to  the  people  forever?  (Applause.)  Therefore,  once  more,  I  repeat; 
the  people  must  be  educated  up  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  im- 
portance of  properly  developing  all  our  raw  material  as  a  public  use: 
and  the  profound  effect  which  such  a  policy  may  have  on  the  com- 
mercial and  political  fortunes  of  the  nation.  It  is  and  will  be  one  of 
the  most  important  functions  of  The  American  Mining  Congress  to 
take  the  lead  in  this  campaign  of  education. 

Our  government  owes  it  to  the  people  whom  it  serves,  to  be  in 
such  close  touch  with  industrial  conditions,  through  its  industrial 
departments,  that  it  may  be  thoroughly  informed  as  to  those  condi- 
tions, that  its  political  policies,  based  on  this  information,  may  be  both 
stable  and  farsighted,  that  its  laws  affecting  commerce  and  industry 
may  constitute  one  harmonious  whole,  and  that  no  industry  may  be 
built  up  by  governmental  favoritism  at  the  expense  of  another  oqually 
entitled  to  consideration. 

We  want  to  see  the  same  farsightedness  in  the  political  world, 
based  on  a  profound  knowledge  of  economic  conditions,  as  has  been 
exhibited  by  Mr.  James  J.  Hill  in  the  industrial  world,  in  anticipating 
the  rise  of  a  new  commercial  empire  in  our  Northwest,  in  foreseeing 
and  providing  for  that  colossal  trade  with  the  Orient  through  our 
Pacific  ports,  which  is  ours  almost  for  the  taking.  When  that  is 
achieved,  we  can  well  afford  to  practice  a  diplomacy,  based,  as  Secre- 
tary Hay  says;  "On  the  Golden  Rule,"  and  we  will  be  so  big  that  we 
won't  much  need  rapid  firing  guns  or  armored  cruisers. 

There  is  another  idea  which  it  seems  to  me  would  be  a  worthy 
object  of  the  efforts  of  this  Congress,  and  which  I  trust  you  will  not 
regard  as  wholly  impracticable.  Our  Congress  should  have  a  perma- 
nent home,  just  as  it  already  has  a  permanent  organization.  It  should 
have  a  permanent  working  staff  of  men  of  ability,  who  are  paid  to 
carry  on  its  work  between  sessions,  and  whose  business  it  is  never 
to  allow  that  work  to  flag.  Its  field  of  labor  is  becoming  too  immense 
to  be  covered  by  the  labors  of  any  one  man,  even  a  man  of  such  her- 
culean capacity  as  our  honored  secretary.  (Applause.)  At  this  home 
it  should,  and  easily  could,  through  the  cooperation  of  all  interested, 
gradually  build  up  the  first  collection  of  ores  and  minerals  in  the 
world.  In  connection  with  this  permanent  home,  and  under  the 
auspices  of  The  American  Mining  Congress,  a  great  mining  university 
should  be  established,  endowed  with  millions,  which  should  be  par- 
excellence  the  mining  school  of  this  country.  (Applause.)  We  have 
many  universities  and  many  technical  schools  which  give  valuable 
instruction  in  mining  and  metallurgy,  but  none  that  satisfactorily 
covers  this  vast  field  from  a  national  point  of  view.  I  confidently  com- 
mend this  idea  to  those  of  our  mining  capitalists  who  have  amassed 
gigantic  fortunes,  the  joint  product  of  their  good  fortune  and  their 
good  judgment.  In  no  other  way  can  they  acquire  a  wider  and  more 
deserving  fame;  in  no  other  way  can  they  confer  upon  the  mining 
fraternity,  with  which  they  have  been  so  closely  identified,  a  greater 
measure  of  benefit.  Surely  we  do  not  lack  mining  Carnegies  and  Van- 
derbilts,  nor  have  our  wealthy  mining  men  ever  been  called  deficient 
in  public  spirit.  Here  is  a  use  worthy  of  their  millions,  a  project 
which  would  be  an  enduring  testimonial  to  their  sagacity  and  gener- 


22  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

osity,  an  institution  which  would  be  a  perpetual  reminder  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States  of  the  importance  of  rightly  developing  and  con- 
serving this  mighty  source  of  national  prosperity. 

Of  course  I  merely  suggest  these  things  at  this  time.  It  is  not  to 
be  expected  that  they  can  be  accomplished  all  together  or  all  at  once. 
But  a  beginning  can  be  made,  we  can  work  to  the  ideal  in  our  thought, 
and  Ave  can  approximate  nearer  and  nearer  to  that  ideal  as  the  years 
pass  by. 

In  closing  this  address,  I  have  only  to  say,  that  I  hope  and  believe 
the  results  of  this  session  will  be  worthy  of  the  representation  of  the 
mining  interests  of  the  country  which  I  see  here  today.  I  hope  and 
believe  that  in  all  our  deliberations,  and  in  any  action  which  we  may 
take,  the  standard  of  our  talking  and  the  standard  of  our  doing,  will 
be  that  which  is  designed  to  advance  the  interests  of  our  organization 
as  a  whole,  of  our  field  of  industry  as  a  whole,  of  our  country  as  a 
whole,  putting  out  of  sight  for  the  moment,  as  far  as  we  consistently 
can,  the  benefits  to  be  deriyed  by  our  own  little  section,  or  our  own 
city,  or  our  own  special  branch  of  work,  by  merely  selfish  striving 
along  narrow  local  lines. 

Your  committees  have  prepared  an  intellectual  feast  for  you, 
and  I  think  that  on  their  menu  each  one  here  will  find  courses  which 
will  specially  appeal  to  him  individually.  We  want  you  all  to  have 
a  thoroughly  good  time,  to  feel  that  you  are  paid  for  coming,  and  then 
to  go  back  home  and  work  for  this  Congress  till  the  next  session  comes 
around.  If  we  all  take  off  our  coats,  working  steadily,  disinterestedly 
and  on  broad  lines,  the  success  of  The  American  Mining  Congress 
is  assured,  and  the  benefit  to  the  mining  industry  from  our  leaders  will 
be  incalculable. 

I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  your  attention.     (Applause.) 

MR.  RICHARDS:  We  are  most  fortunate  today  in  having  with 
us  a  member  of  the  President's  Cabinet.  He  needs  no  other  introduc- 
tion to  you  than  to  say  that  you  will  now  listen  to  an  address  from 
Honorable  Leslie  M.  Shaw,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States.  (Applause.) 

HON.  LESLIE  M.  SHAW:  Mr.  President,  Members  of  the 
National  Mining  Congress,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

Some  years  ago  I  read  a  poem  which,  with  slight  paraphrasing, 
will  express  the  situation  of  the  hour: 

"As  landsmen  sitting  in  luxurious  ease, 

Talk  of  the  dangers  of  the  stormy  seas; 
As  fireside  travellers  with  portentous  mien, 

Tell  tales  of  countries  they  have  never  seen; 
As  parlor  soldiers  graced  with  fancied  scars, 

Rehearse  their  bravery  in  imagined  wars; 
Arrant  dunces  have  been  known  to  sit, 

In  grave  discourse  of  wisdom  and  of  wit; 
As  paupe-rs  gathered  in  congenial  flocks, 

Babble  of  banks,  insurance  and  stocks; 
As  each  is  oftenest  eloquent  o'er  what 

He  hatches  or  covets,  but  possesses  not; 
As  cowards  talk  of  pluck,  misers  of  waste, 

Scoundrels  of  honor,  country  clowns  of  taste," 
I  talk  of  mining. 

The  only  study  I  ever  gave  the  subject  was  to  commit  Eli  Perkin's 
definition  of  a  mining  claim:  "A  mining  claim,  my  son,  is  a  hole  in 
the  ground,  the  owner  of  which  is  a  liar."  (Cheers.)  I  can  readily 
distinguish  by  the  applause  those  who  have  no  mining  stock  for  sale. 
For  what  purpose  I  am  here  I  do  not  know.  Your  chairman  has 
stated  that  I  am  to  deliver  an  address,  but  that  is  a  mistake.  The 
newspaper  boys,  before  I  left  Washington,  learned  that  I  was  coming 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  23 

here,  and  they  wanted  to  know  the  occasion.  I  said  to  them:  "A 
Mining  Congress."  They  wanted  to  know  what  I  was  going  to 
talk  about.  I  said:  "The  Ravages  of  the  Boll  Weevil." 

I  have  been  greatly  interested  in  the  chairman's  address.  It  is 
quite  probable  that  the  people  generally  do  not  fully  understand 
the  measure  and  full  importance  of  the  mining  industry  of  the 
United  States.  I  think  most  of  us  are  apt  to  overestimate  the 
relative  importance  of  the  business  in  which  we  are  personally  en- 
gaged, and  to  underestimate  the  importance  of  every  other  business 
and  calling.  I  remember  when  a  boy  on  the  farm  we  used  to  con- 
sider farming  about  the  only  respectable  calling  in  which  a  man 
could  engage.  We  thought  it  bad  citizenship  for  man  to  embark 
in  any  other  enterprise.  That  was  a  mistake.  If  we  learn  nothing 
else  today  than  that  the  diversity  of  American  interests  is  the  real 
occasion  of  this  country's  wealth,  this  gathering  will  not  have  been 
in  vain.  Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  would  not  for  the  world  detract 
from  or  minimize  the  importance  of  the  mining  industry.  Let  us 
therefore  illustrate.  I  was  talking  with  Phil  Armour  one  day.  and 
he  said:  "I  got  rich  when  a  young  man  by  watching  the  coal  and 
iron  miners.  When  they  were  employed  I  packed  every  ham  I 
could  get  my  hands  on.  My  partner,  Mr.  Plankington,  would  say: 
'Phil,  you  will  break  us  up.'  I  would  answer:  'No,  they  are  working.' 
When  they  quit  working  I  sold  everything  I  could  dispose  of."  In 
ether  words,  the  success  of  the  mining  industry  made  Phil  Armour 
wealthy.  The  success  of  the  farmer  .makes  the  manufacturer  wealthy. 

I  think  we  make  a  mistake  in  estimating  the  importance  of  our 
several  industries  by  their  apparent  productiveness.  From  crude 
iron  ore  a  manufacturer  produces  pig  iron  as  his  finished  produce; 
then  from  pig  iron  steel  is  produced  and  so  on.  Thus  manufactures, 
without  countless  duplications,  produce  $8,000,000  000  per  annum;  ag- 
riculture, without  duplications,  produces  $4,000,000,000;  and  mining, 
$1,000,000,000,  about  equally  divided  between  metallic  and  non-metallic 
products.  Does  it  follow  that  manufacturing  is  eight  times  as  im- 
portant as  mining?  I  think  not.  Without  the  product  of  the  mine, 
manufacture  would  dwindle  into  insignificance.  I  repeat,  that  the 
importance  of  an  industry  is  not  to  be  determined  by  its  apparent 
productiveness. 

Then  again,  all  our  industries — agricultural,  manufacturing, 
mining — are  dependent  upon  our  markets.  We  have  the  greatest  and 
the  best  home  market  in  the  world.  I  would  not  trade  our  home 
market  for  the  market  of  the  balance  of  the  world.  We  produced 
thirty-five  million  tons  of  iron  ore  last  year — one-third  of  the  world's 
product;  we  produced  fifteen  million  tons  of  steel,  and  the  most 
marvelous  aggregation  of  manufactured  products  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  exceeding  that  of  any  other  two  countries  on  the  map  by 
more  than  two  thousand  million.  And  what  did  we  do  with  it? 
We  consumed  it  largely  ourselves.  Thus  it  is  our  consumptive  ca- 
pacity, as  well  as  our  productive  capacity,  that  has  .made  us  wealthy. 
They  make  a  mistake  who  think  all  we  need  to  do  is  to  produce. 
It  is  equally  important  that  our  people  consume. 

Coming  up  on  the  train  I  was  telling  some  friends  that  one 
day  I  had  examined  some  high-priced  china  plates  just  to  see  what 
other  people  could  have  that  I  could  not.  I  asked  them  to  guess 
the  price.  They  staggered  when  I  told  them  they  were  valued  at 
$6,000  a  dozen — $500  a  plate.  Then  one  member  of  the  company 
suggested  that  it  was  an  outrage  that  men  should  eat  from  plates 
like  that,  that  it  was  a  waste  of  money.  For  my  part  I  am  glad 
that  people  who  have  a  superabundance  of  money  will  buy  that  class 
of  plates,  and  I  will  tell  you  why.  The  man  who  produces  those 
plates  sends  to  this  country  and  buys  meat  and  bread.  We  get 
his  money.  Then  the  farmer  who  sells  his  meat  and  bread  buys 
some  manufactured  products,  and  the  manufacturer  buys  of  those 
who  dig  the  iron  and  coal  and  the  iron  and  coal  miner  again  buys 
food  of  the  farmer.  What  we  sometimes  term  the  extravagance 


24  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

of  the  wealthy  works  to  the  advantage  of  the  humblest  toiler.  I 
can  remember  when  cut  flowers  were  a  drug  on  the  market.  I  do 
not  know  what  the  cut  flower  industry  is  now  worth,  but  it  is  certainly 
worth  many  millions.  And  what  are  cut  flowers?  Simply  God's 
sunshine  plus  labor.  And  what  does  the  laborer  do  with  the  pro- 
ceeds of  cut  flowers?  He  becomes  a  consumer  of  food  products  and 
manufactured  products,  and  again  the  miner  is  benefited  by  those 
who  buy  cut  flowers.  You  will  observe  that  the  burden  of  my  talk 
is  to  show  that  our  various  industries  and  occupations  are  inter- 
dependent. 

We  have  the  advantage  over  the  balance  of  the  world  in  our 
mining  industries.  It  can  scarcely  be  said  that  we  mine  coal;  we 
simply  dig  coal.  We  do  not  mine  iron;  we  scoop  it  up.  I  visited 
what  was  called  an  iron  mine  not  long  ago,  where  the  train  passed 
along  the  side  of  a  mountain  range,  and  I  could  see  iron  ore  extending 
twenty  feet  above  the  tracks,  and  they  told  me  it  was  ore  for 
twenty  feet  below  the  tracks.  It  was  several  miles  wide  and  a 
hundred  miles  long.  All  they  had  to  do  was  to  get  a  car  on  the 
track,  fix  a  chute,  loosen  the  ore  and  let  it  slide  into  the  car. 
Right  over  across  the  way  was  a  great  bed  of  coal.  A  man  standing 
at  the  blast  furnace  with  a  modern  gun  would  have  within  his 
range  the  men  at  the  iron  mine,  the  men  at  the  coal  mine,  and 
the  men  at  the  limestone  quarry  in  the  valley  between.  This  is 
bringing  the  essential  elements  very  close  together.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  world  to  compare  with  it. 

And  now  I  want  to  speak  for  a  moment  of  the  necessity  for 
additional  markets.  I  consider  myself  a  young  man  yet,  but  I  can 
remember  very  well  when  this  government  undertook  to  develop 
the  markets  of  the  western  half  of  this  country.  To  this  end  it 
granted  aid  to  transcontinental  -railways.  For  the  purpose  of  develop- 
ing the  markets  of  this  country,  the  government  makes  large  appro- 
pjriations  for  the  improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors.  For  the  purpose 
of  increasing  our  markets,  quite  as  much  as  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
creasing our  products,  the  government  has  granted  aid  in  irrigating 
the  semi-arid  belt.  To  the  south  of  us  are  markets  worth  a  billion 
dollars,  and  we  secure  ten  per  cent  of  them.  For  instance,  we  buy 
from  Brazil  forty  per  cent  of  all  she  has  to  sell,  and  we  sell  her 
ten  per  cent  of  what  she  buys.  In  my  judgment,  if  we  keep  our 
mines  running,  if  we  keep  our  factories  running,  if  we  keep  our 
labor  employed,  we  must  have  a  care  for  the  markets  that  legit- 
mately  and  logically  belong  to  us.  If  we  secure  our  share  of  the 
trade  of  South  America,  South  Africa,  and  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  we  will  need  direct  communication.  We  will  never  have  this 
direct  communication  until  we  have  an  American  merchant  marine  and 
we  will  never  have  an  American  merchant  marine  until  the  government 
in  some  form — in  some  way,  gives  some  encouragement  to  the  enter- 
prise. It  is  the  only  industry  that  has  not  been  and  it  not  in  some 
manner  fostered  by  the  government. 

I  would  not  like  to  have  you  go  away  under  the  impression 
that  in  order  for  the  government  to  be  of  any  assistance  to  the 
mining  industry  of  the  country,  congress  must  create  a  Department 
of  Mining  with  representation  in  the  cabinet.  Congress  created  a 
Fish  Commission,  and  it  has  recently  become  a  bureau  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor.  Congress  created  an  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission,  which  is  not  connected  with  any  regular  depart- 
ment. It  has  no  representation,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  presi- 
dent's cabinet.  Formerly  there  was  in  the  Treasury  Department  a 
bureau  in  charge  of  steamships,  known  as  the  Steamboat  Inspection 
Service.  It  has  since  passed  to  the  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor.  Under  that  bureau  the  government  inspects  every  piece  of 
material  that  goes  into  the  construction  of  steamships,  and  every 
•vessel  is  annually  inspected  and  its  safety  approved.  The  Geodetic 
Survey,  in  the  interest  of  commerce,  surveys  all  our  coasts  and 
marks  every  rock  and  every  reef.  But  none  of  these  bureaus  are 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  25 

directly  represented  in  the  president's  cabinet.  Without  expressing 
an  opinion  as  to  whether  congress  should  create  a  Department  of 
Mining,  with  representation  in  the  cabinet,  I  want  to  assure  you 
that  a  bureau  of  mining  in  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor 
v/ould  be  able  to  do  very  much,  and  perhaps  all  that  it  is  possible 
to  do  for  the  great  interest  here  represented. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  am  sure  that  this  gath- 
ering would  esteem  it  a  privilege  to  express  to  some  extent  the 
pleasure  we  have  had  in  the  visit  of  the  secretary  among  us.  He 
has  turned  aside  from  the  busy  work  of  a  cabinet  officer  to  come 
a  long  way  to  take  part  in  our  deliberations  and  exercises  and  upon 
his  arrival  and  several  times  since,  the  secretary  has  stated  to  me, 
with  some  regret,  that  he  had  nothing  to  talk  about  upon  this  occasion. 
In  passing  I  would  like  to  express  a  wish  that  we  may  all  have  an 
opportunity  to  hear  him  at  some  time  when  he  has  something  to 
talk  about  (Applause)  and  so,  as  he  must  depart  this  afternoon, 
I  move  to  extend  him  a  -rising  vote  of  thinks  for  the  honor  he  has 
paid  us. 

The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president,  duly  seconded  and 
a  rising  vote  of  thanks  and  three  cheers  were  unanimously  extended 
Secretary  Shaw. 

MR.  SELBIE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  Shaw  stated  he  was 
not  a  member  of  this  association.  He  has  shown  so  much  knowledge 
of  mining  and  has  stuck  so  closely  to  the  subject  that  I  think  we 
ought  to  elect  him  an  honorary  member  of  this  association. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded. 

The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  unanimously  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  You  will  now  have  the  pleasure  of 
listening  to  a  short  address  from  Mr.  Brown  of  Colorado  on  "Govern- 
mental Statistics." 

COL.  ED.  F«  BROWN:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
From  the  program  that  was  published  this  morning  I  feel  that  you 
may  think  that  I  was  to  present  a  lot  of  statistics.  I  do  not  intend 
to  do  so,  but  have  taken  this  opportunity  of  presenting  a  question  to 
the  Honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  hope  that  he  will 
consider  our  greetings. 

This  country  in  the  first  hundred  years  of  its  existence  grew 
great,  powerful  and  rich  through  the  great  natural  'resources  we  had 
in  agriculture.  That  century  has  passed.  As  he  has  explained  to  you, 
the  foundation  of  manufacturing  prosperity  rests  on  mining,  which 
is  a  fact;  but  it  appears  that  at  Washington,  through  some  reason  or 
other,  they  have  continued  in  error  all  through  the  line  of  statistics 
that  has  been  published  in  regard  to  the  mining  industry  and  \ve 
want  to  call  attention  to  that  error  and,  if  possible,  have  it  corrected. 
As  I  say,  the  first  hundred  years  of  our  prosperity  have  come  from 
agriculture.  If  we  expect  to  maintain  this  great  progress  that  we  are 
now  carrying  on,  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  become  a  greater  manufac- 
turing nation  and  meet  all  the  world  in  that  line.  To  to  so,  the 
mining  industry  is  essential  to  our  success.  We  have  grown  very 
great  in  this  way.  I  can  see  from  what  the  secretary  has  said  that 
very  few  people  understand  and  a  great  many  people  do  not  under- 
stand the  extent  that  mining  now  has  attained  in  this  country,  but 
let  me  call  your  attention  to  the  report  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  of  1901,  the  last  that  was  published. 

There  are  521,337,833  tons  of  freight  given  to  the  railroads  of 
this  country  by  that  report  and  the  products  of  agriculture  amounted 
to  56,102,838  tons;  the  products  of  animals.  15,145,297  tons;  the 
products  of  the  mines,  269,372,556  tons;  the  products  of  the  forests, 
60,844,933  tons;  products  of  manufactures  71,681,178  tons;  mer- 
chandise, 21,697,693  tons,  and  miscellaneous,  26,493,338  tons.  The 
product  of  mines  furnished  51.67  per  cent  of  all  the  business  fur- 


26  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

nished  the  railroads  in  the  United  States.  (Applause.)  The  products 
of  agriculture  but  10.76  per  cent;  the  products  of  animals,  2.91  per 
cent;  forests,  11.6  per  cent;  manufactures,  13.75  per  cent;  merchan- 
dise, 4.16  per  cent,  and  miscellaneous,  5.08  per  cent. 

Now  when  you  take  into  consideration  all  those  figures  with 
the  statistics  published  by  the  Treasury  Department  in  regard  to 
our  exports  you  will  find  a  most  remarkable  difference.  Last  year 
was  the  most  prosperous  year  in  the  United  States  in  the  way  of 
exports.  The  Treasury  Department  reports  $1,392,201,637  as  being 
the  gross  exports  for  the  year  ending  June  30,1903.  Of  this  vast 
amount  of  exports  $873,285,142  was  credited  to  agriculture,  $408,- 
187,207  to  manufactures;  $38,814,759  to  mining;  $57,830,773  to  forests; 
$7,755,232  to  fisheries  and  $6,328.579  to  miscellaneous.  Agriculture 
is  credited  with  62.72  per  cent  of  all  exports.  Mining  only  is  given 
credit  for  2.79  per  cent.  Now  that  is  not  a  fact.  It  is  a  mistake  that 
has  been  carried  for  twenty  years  in  the  department  at  Washington. 
I  have  had  correspondence  with  statisticians  there  in  regard  to  it 
and  they  practically  told  me  it  had  been  going  on  so  long  that  they 
could  not  change  it.  There  were  exported  in  copper  ingots  and  bars 
$37,354,061  worth;  coal,  $21,206,498;  mineral  oil,  $6,329,899,  and  min- 
eral oil  refined,  $60,357,519,  and  other  mining  products  making  an 
aggregate  of  $141,241,602  that  should  be  credited  to  mining,  and  in- 
stead of  the  exports  being  2.79  per  cent  really  is  10.15  per  cent. 

Now  how  does  this  thing  come  about?  Through  an  error  that 
was  commenced  years  ago,  refined  mining  products,  copper  ingots, 
etc.,  was  classed  as  manufactured  products  exported.  Now  what  is 
a  copper  ingot?  It  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  concentration 
of  the  copper  into  form  for  future  use.  A  barrel  of  flour  is  nothing 
more  or  less  than  ground  up  wheat  and  is  as  much  a  manufactured 
product  as  agricultural  product,  but  the  ingot  of  copper  certainly  is 
not  a  manufactured  product.  There  is  as  much  sense  in  putting  refined 
oil  and  copper  in  manufactures  as  there  would  be  to  call  a  gold 
bar  a  product  of  manufacture  instead  of  mining. 

You  can  all  see  that  this  error  has  been  continued  and  we  want 
to  have  it  attended  to  because  it  changes  the  averages  that  would 
appear  from  year  to  year  and  increase  the  showing  of  mining  exports. 
If  a  mistake  has  occurred  let  us  correct  it  so  that  mining  will  get 
the  credit  of  what  it  does.  I  have  taken  the  pains  to  figure  out 
those  things  in  agriculture  that  are  just  as  much  a  manufactured 
product  as  these  two  items  I  have  mentioned  and  there  are  many 
others  here  which  I  have  on  the  statement,  and  in  case  that  rule 
is  applied  to  agricultural  exports  it  would  eat  up  $274,637,475  from 
agricultural  exports. 

In  such  matters  as  this  we,  as  miners,  only  want  the  credit 
that  really  belongs  to  us.  We  have  no  objection  to  sawed  lumber 
going  in  as  forest  products,  although  it  is  as  much  manufactured 
as  an  ingot  of  copper  would  be,  or  a  bar  of  lead.  We  have  no  ob- 
jection to  canned  salmon  going  in  as  fishery  products,  although 
it  certainly  is  as  much  a  manufactured  article  as  an  ingot  of  copper 
or  bar  of  lead.  We  have  no  objection  to  any  of  these  other  industries 
getting  the  benefit  of  what  they  produce,  but  is  it  right  to  pick  out 
the  mining  industry  alone  and  report  that  of  all  our  vast  exports 
there  are  2.79  per  cent  derived  from  the  product  of  mines,  when 
the  face  of  their  own  report  shows  $141,000,000  instead  of  $38,000,000? 

I  feel  that  this  is  a  matter  that  this  association  should  take 
cognizance  of.  I  thought  it  was  proper  that  this  was  the  place 
we  should  present  the  protest  and  in  consideration  of  that  fact  I 
have  prepared  a  resolution  which  I  will  hand  to  the  secretary.  It 
has  not  been  my  intention  to  make  a  speech.  It  has  only  been  my 
intention  to  make  this  kick  that  I  have  made  for  at  least  five  oV 
six  years  and  I  would  like  the  association  to  support  me  in  the 
position  I  have  taken.  (Cheers.) 

The  following  is  a  detailed  statement  of  Col.  Ed.  F.  Brown,  of 
Colorado,  referred  to  by  him  in  the  preceding  speech: 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  27 

Statement  showing  the  proportion  of  business  furnished  the  rail- 
roads of  the  United  States  by  the  different  industries.  Extract  from 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  report  for  1901.  See  page  66. 

Tons.        Per  Cent. 

Products  of  Agriculture    56,102,838         10.76 

Products  of  Animals  15,145,297  2.91 

Product  of  Mines  269,372,556         51.67 

Product  of  Forest   .... 60,844,933         11.67 

Product  of  Manufactures   71,681,178         13.75 

Merchandise 21,697,693  4.16 

Miscellaneous   26,493,338  5.08 

521,337,833       100.60 

The  following  articles  were  credited  to  agriculture  although 
manufactured  more  or  less: 

Bread  and  Biscuit 589,536 

Oat  Meal  1,839,106 

Rye  Flour  12,818 

Wheat  Flour   . 73,756,404 

Table  Food' 2,667,409 

Bran,  Middlings,  etc. 945,053 

Dried  Grains  and  Shorts   1,320,065 

Other  Manufactures   661,131 

Roasted  or  Prepared  Coffee 2,381,469 

Dried  Apples   ... . .......'.......... 2,31,469 

Dried  Apricots    713,887 

Pressed    Fruits    1,806.328 

Prunes   3,512.507 

Malt   252,801 

Oil  Cake  and  Meal 12,732,497 

Beef  Products    ...... 7,916,928 

Beef  Products    25,013,323 

Salted  Pickled  Beef ,.. 3,916,855 

Tallow   1,623.852 

Hog   Products    22,178,525 

Hog  Products    25,712,633 

Hog   Products    1,369,687 

Hog  Products    11,995,253 

Lard    .50,854,504 

Lard   Compounds 3,607,542 

Mutton . ......' 532,746 

Oleomargarine  and  Oleo   12,780,161 

Butter .............:...    . ." 1,604,327 

Cheese 2,250,229 

274,637,475 
If  agricultural  and  other  exports  would  be  reported  same  way  that 

Mining  is  returned,  the  following  would  be  the  result: 

Agriculture    $598,647,667  43.00  per  cent. 

Manufactures    742,838,254  53.36  per  cent. 

Mining    ; ,     38,814,759  2.79  per  cent. 

Forest    '. .  4,506,728  .32  per  cent. 

Fishing 1,065,71 0  .07  per  cent. 

Miscellaneous    6,328,519  .46  per  cent. 

$1,392,201,637         100.00  per  cent. 
Report    of    Treasury    Department    giving    the    classification    of 

exports  for  1902-1903. 

Agriculture    $873,285,142  62.72  per  cent. 

Manufactures    408,187,207  29.32  per  cent. 

Mining    38,814,759  2.79  per  cent. 

Forest    57,830,778  4.15  per  cent. 

Fishery    7,755,232  .56  per  cent. 

Miscellaneous    6,328,579  .46  per  cent. 

$1,392,201,637         100.00  per  cent. 


28  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

In  the  same  report  the  following  articles  are  specified  as  having 
been  exported: 

EXPORTS  OF  MINING  PRODUCT. 

Brick    $      429,908 

Cement     419,361 

Coal     21,206,498 

Coke     1,912,459 

Copper  ore    927,417 

Copper  ingots  and  bars  . .. 37,354,061 

Phosphates     6,344,224 

Iron  ore  266,982 

Pig  iron   362,068 

Ingots  and  blooms  68,064 

Lead  pizo  and  bars  15,527 

Lime    32,694 

Marble,  stone  and  slate   1,565,244 

Nickle  and  matte  864,221 

Mineral  oil   6,329,899 

Mineral  oil  refined 60,357,519 

Mineral  risidium  566,115 

Quicksilver    762,201 

Salt    70,446 

Zinc    1,386,694 


$141,241,602 
If  corrected  the  statement  should  read: 

Agriculture    $873,285,142  62.72  per  cent. 

Manufactures 305,760,364  21.96  per  cent. 

Mining    141,241,602  10.15  per  cent. 

Forest    57,850,778  4.15  per  cent. 

Fishery    ,      7,755,232  .56  per  cent. 

Miscellaneous    6,328,519  .46  per  cent. 


$1,392,201,637         100.00  per  cent. 

Memorandum  showing  value  of  mining  products  that  swelled  the 
balance  of  trade : 

Excess  of  gold $     2,108,568 

Excess  of  silver   20,068,768 

Exports  above   141,241,602 


$163,436.938 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Secretary  will  read  the  reso- 
lution offered  by  Col.  Ed.  F.  Brown. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  the  resolution. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Under  the  rule  it  will  be  referred  to 
the  committee  on  resolutions  through  the  secretary. 

GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  desire  to  introduce  a  reso- 
lution asking  the  United  States  Congress  to  enact  a  law  to  establish 
mining  stations,  to  aid  in  the  development  of  the  mineral  resources  of 
the  United  States,  and  for  other  purposes. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :     The  secretary  will  read  the  resolution. 
Secretary  Mahon  read  the  resolution. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  resolution  will  be  referred  to 
the  committee  on  resolutions. 

GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  wish  to  state  to  everyone  in 
the  convention  that  there  are  copies  of  the  resolution  in  the  form 
of  a  bill  on  the  platform  and  anyone  who  desires  may  read  it. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  29 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  chairman  of  the  finance  com- 
mittee has  a  report  to  make  relative  to  the  finances  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress. 

RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  This  report  is  presented  in 
pursuance  of  resolutions  of  the  executive  board.  I  will  say  that  it 
has  been  examined  and  audited  by  the  executive  board  and  found 
correct.  However,  all  vouchers  and  all  accounts  are,  in  pursuance 
of  that  resolution,  open  to  the  scrutiny  and  examination  of  any  mem- 
ber of  the  association,  and  if  it  is  desired  that  a  committee  shall  be 
appointed  to  examine  and  audit  the  account  further,  the  executive 
committee  would  be  pleased  to  have  it  done;  and  at  this  time  and  in 
this  connection  I  would  desire  to  say  to  the  Congress  on  behalf  of 
the  executive  committee  that  we  feel  that  at  this  time  and  in  this 
session  some  steps  should  be  taken  in  order  to  place  the  Congress  on 
a  more  substantial  basis  than  it  is.  The  plan  as  proposed,  which  will 
come  up  under  the  proposed  by-laws,  provides  for  a  membership 
from  which  we  have  hopefully  looked  for  a  large  income.  I  regret 
to  say  that  so  far  delegates  and  visitors  to  the  Congress  have  not 
to  any  large  degree  taken  out  the  membership  that  we  expected.  I 
will  say,  further,  that  the  Black  Hills  men  have  taken  just  about 
half  of  the  membership  of  the  Congress  so  far.  It  is  earnestly 
desired  that  the  delegates,  if  they  feel  interested  enough  to  continue 
as  members  of  the  Congress,  should  take  out  their  mmberships  at  this 
time,  and  further,  it  is  hoped  that  the  Congress  will  devise  means  that 
will  place  the  Congress  on  a  more  firm  and  substantial  basis. 

The  report  was  read  and  is  as  follows: 

Cash  received  and  deposited  with  Treasurer  Goodale  from  Septem- 
ber, 1902,  to  September  1,  1903: 

Received  account  of  members  $1,349.00 

Butte  Business  Men's  Association   355.00 

Black  Hills  Mining  Men's  Association  3,000.00 

Ex.  Treasurer  Camp   101.05 


Total $4,805.05 

DISBURSEMENTS 

Sec.  Mahon  on  account  of  salary $    625.00 

Bond  of  Treasurer  Goodale 25.00 

Butte  Miner  for  publishing  proceedings 355.00 

Lead  Daily  Call  for  publishing  proceedings 448.00 

Miscellaneous  expenses   2,934.36 


Total $4,387.36 

Balance $    417.69 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  Mr.  President,  I  wish  to  move 
you  that  the  proceedings  of  this  Congress  be  governed  by  "Roberts' 
Rules  of  Order"  until  the  proposed  constitution  and  by-laws  be  adopted 
by  this  Congress. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:     I  second  the  motion. 
Which  motion  was  stated  by  President  Richards  and  duly  carried. 

PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  The  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  credentials  will  be  pleased  to  meet  the  other  two  members  at 
seven  o'clock  at  the  Franklin  hotel,  and  will  also  be  pleased  to 
receive  any  credentials  that  are  not  yet  turned  in  before  that  time. 

TARBELL  OF  COLORADO:  As  a  member  of  that  committee  on 
credentials  would  it  please. the  chairman  to  meet  directly  after  this 
session? 


30  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA.:  Yes,  sir.  Then  the  credential 
committee  will  meet  at  the  Franklin  hotel  immediately  after  the  ad- 
journment of  this  session  so  that  you  can  find  your  committee  there 
to  present  your  credentials  to. 

LYNCH  OF  MONTANA  I  move  we  now  adjourn  until  eight 
o'clock  this  evening. 

JACKSON,  OF  IDAHO:  I  think  the  gentleman  will  withhold 
his  motion  after  what  I  am  about  to  suggest.  There  is  a  matter 
overlooked,  it  seems  to  me,  surely  not  from  intent  but  simply  a 
matter  of  oversight.  It  seems  to  me  we  have  failed  in  doing  our  duty 
by  failing  to  vote  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  president  of  the  United 
States  for  recognizing  this  Congress  and  the  mining  industry  by  send- 
ing a  member  of  his  cabinet  here. 

LYNjCH,  OF  MONTANA:     The  motion  to  adjourn  is  withdrawn. 

JACKSON,  OF  IDAHO:  Then,  Mr.  Chairman,  inasmuch  as  the 
great  lamented  immortal  president  during  the  time  of  the  rebellion, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  sent  his  congratulations  to  the  miners  of  the 
West  who  were  digging  the  gold  to  pay  the  debts  and  to  carry  on  the 
commerce  of  this  country  at  that  time,  "Boys,  go  and  mine  and  we 
will  help  you  the  best  we  can,"  and  as  President  Roosevelt  has  said, 
though  not  in  so  many  words  perhaps,  but  by  acts  when  he  sent 
his  representative  of  the  cabinet  to  this  Congress  in  recognition 
of  it  and  the  mining  industry — Gentlemen,  when  he  said,  though  not 
in  so  many  words:  "Advance  your  mining  industry;  boys,  go  on  and 
push  your  mining  industry;  advance  your  Mining  Congress;  the 
president  of  the  United  States  recognizes  your  effort;  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  recognizes  your  efforts,  and  the  govern- 
ment will  assist  you  in  all  worthy  purposes  in  this  connection" — 
Therefore  I  move  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  a  committee  of  three  be 
appointed,  of  which  the  secretary  of  the  Congress  shall  be  the  chair- 
man, to  prepare  a  resolution  voting  the  thanks  of  this  Congress  to 
the  president  of  the  United  States  for  his  recognition  of  the  mining 
industry  and  of  this  Congress  in  sending  his  representative  here,  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  at  this  time.  Let  the  resolutions  be  en- 
grossed and  mailed  to  President  Roosevelt  so  that  he  may  never 
forget  the  gratitude  of  this  Congress,  as  this  Congress  will  probably 
never  forget  that  it  was  recognized  and  the  mining  industry  was 
recognized  as  in  this  case. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:  I  thank  the  gentleman  from  Idaho  for 
the  compliment  that  he  has  so  gracefully  paid  to  me  here  today  in 
mentioning  my  name  as  the  chairman  of  that  committee.  I  would  be 
glad  and  proud  to  serve  upon  it  did  I  think  it  the  proper  thing  for 
me  to  do.  That  duty  belongs  to  the  gentleman  who  has  offered  that 
motion  and  I  hope  Mr.  Chairman,  that  you  will  insist  upon  his 
taking  his  proper  place.  (Cheers.) 

DIGNOWITY,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA:  I  second  the  gentleman's 
motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded 
that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  by  the  chair,  of  which  our 
secretary  shall  be  the  chairman  of  that  committee,  to  express  by 
resolution  by  appreciation  of  the  president's  act  in  sending  his  sec- 
retary of  the  treasury  to  meet  with  us  on  this  occasion.  Are  you 
ready  for  the  question? 

JONES,  OF  CALIFORNIA:  I  desire  to  move  an  amendment 
that  instead  of  the  secretary  being  the  chairman  of  that  committee 
it  be  the  gentleman  from  Idaho  who  made  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  we  will 
consider  it  so  amended. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  31 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  question  is  now  shall  the  chair 
appoint  a  committee  of  three,  of  which  Mr.  Jackson,  of  Idaho,  be 
chairman,  to  express  by  resolution  our  appreciation  of  the  presi- 
dent's act  in  sending  his  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  meet  with 
us  on  this  occasion? 

Which  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:  There  has  been  no  motion  carried  to 
adjourn  and  we  have  some  litle  time  to  spare  this  afternoon.  There 
is  a  genlteman  here  from  North  Dakota  who  is  very  familiar  with 
the  early  history  of  this  country  and  who  is  willing  to  give  us  a 
little  talk  of  about  five  or  ten  minutes  if  agreeable  to  the  Congress. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  listen  to  a  few  remarks  by 
Mr.  Russell  at  this  time. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  Ladies 
and  Gentleman:  It  was  very  foreign  indeed  to  my  expectation  when 
coming  here  to  be  asked  to  address  you,  but  as  I  sat  here  this  after- 
noon memory  has  gone  back  thirty  years.  In  1873  it  was  my  privilege 
to  go  across  the  territory  of  Dakota.  The  Northern  Pacific  railroad 
had  constructed  their  road  to  the  Missouri  river  in  the  early  part 
of  1873.  The  secretary  of  the  interior,  a  member  of  the  cabinet  of 
President  Grant,  was  very  anxious  to  see  Dakota  as  it  was  known  then. 
The  Northern  Pacific  road  gave  him  a  special  train  for  himself 
and  his  friends  and  I  was  requested,  living  as  I  was  then  at  the  head 
of  Lake  Superior,  to  be  his  escort  to  Bismarck  on  the  Missouri  river. 
I  sat  here  this  afternoon  and  memory  has  gone  back  thirty  years. 
We  slept  at  Fargo  that  night;  we  crossed  the  territory  of  Dakota 
from  the  Red  river  to  the  Missouri  by  daylight.  The  census  of  1870, 
two  years  and  a  half  or  nearly  three  years  before  we  made  the  trip, 
which  was  in  July,  1873,  of  the  territory  of  Dakota  showed  14,181 
people.  I  have  got  those  figures  correct  for  I  have  been  called  upon 
to  verify  them  once  before,  14,181  people.  Of  that  we  knew  thoroughly 
that  that  part  which  is  now  North  Dakota  did  not  contain  over  1,000; 
we  did  not  know  how  many,  but  the  territory  was  undivided  of 
course.  The  larger  portion  of  the  14,000  was  in  South  Dakota. 
As  we  drew  near  the  Missouri  river  that  afternoon  the  secretary 
said  these  words:  "I  am  exceedingly  glad  to  see  Dakota.  I  have 
looked  forward  to  it  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  for  a  number  of 
years.  Now,"  says  he,  "we  have  traveled  today  over  a  territory 
that  is  capable  of  and  going  to  sustain  a  very  large  population 
to  the  square  mile  in  the  distant  future,"  and  he  expressed  it  with 
very  strong  words.  "We  have  not  seen  a  particle  of  soil  culti- 
vated for  we  don't  know  there  is  a  hundred  acres  cultivated  between 
the  Red  river  and  the  Missouri.  We  have  not  seen  any  farms  but 
we  have  seen  a  soil  here  that  is  deposited  that  is  capable  of  sus- 
taining a  very  large  population  to  the  square  mile."  Says  I:  "That 
population  unquestionably  as  you  say  may  be  sustained  here,  but 
what  will  they  do  for  fuel?  What  will  they  do  for  lots?"  His  reply 
was  this:  "It  is  not  consistent  with  the  wisdom  of  the  Almighty 
God  to  place  such  a  soil  as  we  have  seen  here  today  the  proof  of 
which  we  have  by  the  grasses  that  we  have  seen  and  the  depth 
of  the  soil  through  the  cuts  which  we  have  passed  show;  it  is  not 
consistent  with  His  wisdom  to  leave  that  population  without  supply- 
ing them  with  everything  that  is  necessary  for  their  sustenance, 
and  you  will  no  doubt  find  under  the  prairies  here  bodies  of  fuel 
and  most  unquestionably  oil  that  will  furnish  both  fuel  and  light." 
And  when  the  lignite  fields  of  North  and  South  Dakota  were  dis- 
covered that  prophesy  of  Delauney  came  forcibly  to  my  mind.  We 
did  not  know  anything  at  that  time  except  vaguely  of  the  Black 
Hills.  The  twenty-fifth  year  has  been  passed  by  me  as  a  resident 
of  North  Dakota.  In  1870  the  population  of  the  territory  was  14,181 
Thirty  years  afterwards,  in  1900,  the  population  of  North  and  South 
Dakota  was  723,000  and  over.  It  it  more  since  that  time,  as  you 


32  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

will  all  bear  witness.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  it  is  now  800,000.  How 
that  English  speaking  race  has  gone  forward  and  possessed  the 
soil  that  Mr.  Delauney,  of  Ohio,  said  was  capable  of  containing  a 
large  population  to  the  square  mile!  We  went  from  Bismarck  to 
Fort  Lincoln  the  next  day.  The  officers  of  the  fort  gave  the  mem- 
ber of  the  cabinet  a  beautiful  reception.  They  showed  us  the  sand 
banks  thrown  up  there  to  protect  them  from  an  attack  of  300  warriors 
of  the  Sioux  Indians  only  sixty  days  before.  Where  is  the  Sioux 
Indian?  Where  is  the  buffalo  that  fed  the  Indian?  What  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  Buffalo  and  Indian?  The  English  speaking  -races, 
carrying  their  churches  and  their  schools  with  them,  their  manu- 
factures and  obtaining  the  wealth  of  the  soil  of  North  and  South 
Dakota,  South  Dakota  here  in  the  Black  Hills  digging  it  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth  and  North  Dakota  raising  it  from  the  surface, 
and  now  producing  a  very  large  part  of  the  wheat  of  the  world. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  there  is  only  one  expression  that  I  can 
satisfy  ,my  own  mind  with  as  I  look  upon  what  has  been  done  in 
the  last  thirty  years.  What  has  God  wrought!  May  God  in  His 
infinite  sympathy  continue  all  blessings  to  the  people  of  North  and 
South  Dakota  to  the  end  of  time,  and  may  all  our  efforts  be  spent 
in  developing  the  resources  of  these  states. 

LYNCH,  OF  MONTANA:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  will  renew  my  motion 
that  we  now  adjourn  until  eight  o'clock. 

TARBELL,  OF  COLORADO:      I  second  that  motion. 
The  motion  was  carried  and  Congress  adjourned  until  September 
8,  1903,  at  eight  o'clock  P.  M. 

Deadwood,  S.  D.,  September  8,  1903,  8  P.  M. 
PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     Let  the  Congress  be  in  order. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  first  thing  on  the  program  for 
this  evening  is  an  address  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Abbott  of  Denver,  Colorado; 
subject,  "Good  Roads  for  Mines."  (Applause.) 

GOOD  ROADS  FOR  MINES. 

DR.  J.  W.  ABBOTT:  Mr.  President,  Delegates  to  the  American 
Mining  Congress,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  The  opportunity  to  ad- 
dress the  American  Mining  Congress  on  this  important  subject  I 
count  as  the  greatest  privilege  of  my  official  career.  (Applause.) 
I  represent  that  division  of  our  national  government  which  deals 
with  problems  of  highway  improvement.  It  has  been  in  operation 
only  ten  years,  and  has  had  to  work  with  ridiculously  meagre  appro- 
priations, hesitatingly  made.  That  section  of  our  constitution  which 
imposes  upon  congress  the  duty  of  "providing  for  the  general  wel- 
fare" has  always  seemed  much  clearer  of  comprehension  when  money 
could  be  appropriated  for  the  direct  benefit  of  specific  localities,  where 
watchful  and  discerning  constituents  can  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage 
in  behalf  oi  zealous  and  successful  representatives. 

The  .material  development  of  our  country  has  produced  both 
anomalies  and  paradoxes. 

It  is  indeed  an  anomaly  that  while  in  every  other  phase  of 
civilization  in  the  home,  the  office,  the  city,  on  rail  and  water, 
we  lead  the  world's  progress,  the  general  standard  of  maintenance 
and  construction  for  our  common  roads  has  remained  stationary 
during  the  past  hundred  years.  The  lumberman  hauls  his  logs,  the 
farmer  his  cotton,  wheat  and  corn,  and  the  miner  his  machinery, 
supplies,  coal  and  ore  over  roads  no  better  than  those  used  by  his 
forefathers  a  century  ago. 

It  is  a  no  less  striking  paradox  that  the  old  world  countries 
have  splendid  roads  because  they  cannot  afford  poor  ones,  while  our 
material  resources  have  been  so  abundant  that  we  have  been  bearing 
year  after  year  the  appalling  loss  from  bad  roads  without  realizing 
the  drain.  From  abundant  data  gathered  in  all  portions  of  the 
United  States  by  the  office  of  public  road  inquiries,  it  was  demon- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  •         33 

strated  years  ago,  and  has  been  signally  confirmed  by  my  own  investi- 
gations, that  the  cost  of  wagon  freighting  under  average  existing 
conditions  is,  approximately,  25  cents  per  ton  per  mile.  It  is  also 
interesting  in  this  connection  to  note  that  the  contract  price  (deter- 
mined by  very  earnest  competition)  paid  in  1901  by  the  government 
for  hauling  supplies  in  Yellowstone  National  Park,  where  the  moun- 
tain road  system  is  of  a  very  high  standard,  was  25  cents  per  ton  per 
mile.  In  gathering  statistics  of  the  cost  of  freighting  to  and  from 
mines  by  wagon  roads,  I  have  found  several  instances  where  the 
roads  were  the  best  in  which  this  average  cost  figured  exactly  2 
cents  per  ton  mile.  I  have  found  none  in  which  the  rate  was  even 
a  fraction  lower.  Climate,  the  price  of  labor,  hay  and  grain,  volume 
of  material  to  be  handled  and  the  newness,  or  otherwise,  of  the 
mining  region,  are  all,  of  course,  factors  in  determining  this  cost 
of  wagon  freight.  But  the  one  factor  which  always  controls,  and 
which  over-shadows  in  importance  every  other,  is  the  character  of 
the  road.  I  have  in  mind  a  mining  camp  situated  far  below  timber 
line,  distant  eighteen  miles  from  a  populous,  thriving  agricultural 
center  and  important  railroad  point,  where  the  established  freight 
rate  each  way  is  $12.00  per  ton;  662-3  cents  per  mile.  At  no  place 
along  the  line  is  the  rise  exceedingly  rapid,  but  the  grade  in  places 
is  so  very  steep  that  3,000  pounds  is  an  average  load  up  for  a  six- 
horse  team. 

At  the  request  6f  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  on  November 
20,  1895,  a  circular  letter  was  addressed  to  many  consuls  in  European 
countries,  requesting  information  similar  to  that  already  elicited 
in  this  country  on  the  cost  of  hauling  farm  products.  A  very  large 
number  of  reports  in  answer  to  this  circular  were  received  and  pub- 
lished. They  show  costs  ranging  from  6  to  13  cents  per  ton-mile 
for  hauling  different  products  under  different  conditions.  While  no 
certain  general  average  cost  per  ton-mile  can  be  adduced  from  these 
figures,  anyone  who  studies  them  will  conclude  that  it  lies  between 
10  and  12  cents.  With  reference  to  the  question  whether  this  light 
cost  in  Europe  is  not  partially  due  to  lower  prevailing  standards  of 
wages,  it  may  be  said  that  while  wages  there  are  somewhat  lower 
than  with  us,  the  cost  of  feed  averages  considerably  higher;  that 
very  much  of  the  hauling  in  Europe  is  done  with  one  horse  or  mule, 
while  all  the  data  from  which  the  American  average  was  adduced 
assumed  one  driver  for  not  less  than  two  horses. 

Assuming  the  cost  of  hauling  at  25  cents  per  ton-mile  and  taking 
figures  for  production  from  census  returns,  the  director  of  the  office  of 
public  road  inquiries  in  April,  1896,  estimated  the  grand  total  cost, 
of  hauling  on  the  public  roads  of  the  United  States  at  about  $950,- 
000,000.  Had  these  roads  been  constructed  on  European  standards, 
this  cost  would  have  been  reduced  more  than  one-half. 

For  the  same  year  covered  by  this  estimate,  the  gross  freight 
receipts  of  all  the  railroads  in  the  United  States  was  less  than  730 
millions  of  dollars. 

It  is  only  by  some  such  comparison  that  the  mind  can  grasp  the 
significance  of  these  figures  of  annual  waste,  which,  although  they 
equal  the  entire  amount  expended  since  its  beginning  by  the  govern- 
ment on  improvements  to  rivers  and  harbors,  does  not  fully  measure 
the  appalling  loss  to  this  country  from  its  defective  highway  system. 
We  must  add  a  great  many  millions  for  perishable  products  spoiled 
because  they  could  not  reach  market  in  time,  the  restriction  or  con- 
gestion of  railroad  freight,  due  to  closed  roads  and  their  subsequent 
opening  (because  of  climatic  conditions),  the  failure  to  reach  market 
when  prices  are  good,  the  enforced  idleness  of  vast  numbers  of  men 
and  animals,  the  limitation  to  the  area  of  profitable  cultivation  of  the 
soil  or  exploitation  of  the  ground,  and  many  other  adverse  results 
due  to  prevailing  highway  conditions. 

But  it  is  particularly  to  the  effect  upon  the  mining  industry  that 
I  desire  to  call  special  attention.  The  tonnage  involved  in  mining 
operations  in  always  very  great.  The  machinery  required  for  mine 


34         •  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

and  mill  equipment  runs  into  tonnage  alarmingly  fast  in  the  very 
large  majority  of  cases.  All  material  of  all  kinds  which  enters  into 
this  equipment  must  be  transported  a  greater  or  less  distance  over  a 
common  road.  In  the  beginnings  of  most  mining  enterprises  the 
product,  as  well  as  all  needed  supplies,  including  fuel,  must  be  hauled 
in  wagons.  Whatever  this  wagon  haul  costs  mere  than  it  would  cost 
over  properly  constructed  roads  is  a  tax  to  be  deducted  from  possible 
profits.  Take  a  mining  enterprise  that  requires  an  average  wagon 
haul  of  twenty  tons  a  day  for  300  days  in  the  year;  supposing  that  im- 
proving the  road  would  result  in  a  saving  of  but  25  cents  on  each  of 
these  tons;  this  means  $5.00  a  day  or  $1,500  for  the  year,  which  is 
10  per  cent  on  $15,000.  Twenty  tons  a  day  for  supplies  and  product 
does  not  mean  a  large  business,  while  $15,000  will,  if  intelligently 
applied,  work  a  vast  change  in  almost  any  road  which  serves  mining 
needs.  All  of  us  who  are  familiar  with  mining  methods  as  they 
actually  are  in  the  United  States  will  recall  instances  without  number 
where  an  awful  drain  upon  the  net  output  has  been  suffered  year 
after  year  without  apparent  effort  for  relief,  and  in  many  cases 
even  without  protest. 

The  annual  product  from  the  mines  of  the  United  States  has  a 
money  value  of  more  than  one  billion  dollars.  The  amount  which 
is  expended  annually  to  cheapen  the  transportation  of  these  products 
by  rail  and  water,  and  for  mechanical  devices  of  all  kinds  by  which 
they  may  be  placed  upon  car  or  boat  or  removed  therefrom,  is 
prodigious.  Isn't  it  an  anomaly  that  with  almost  insignificant  ex- 
ception, no  effective  study  is  given  to  this  waste  in  wagon  freighting? 
Compare  existing  practice  in  this  respect  with  what  the  railroads  are 
doing.  Grades  are  being  cut  down,  curves  lightened,  tunnels  bored, 
heavy  steel  rails  substituted  for  the  lighter  ones,  more  capacious 
cars  and  more  powerful  engines  purchased,  and  every  method  prac- 
ticed to  reduce  the  cost  of  transportation.  In  the  1901  report  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  will  be  found  some  very  interesting 
pages  bearing  upon  what  has  been  accomplished  along  this  line. 
In  1865  the  average  cost  of  hauling  each  ton  of  freight  one  mile 
was  practically  2  1-3  cents,  and  the  average  profit  3-8  of  a  cent.  In 
1901  the  average  cost  of  the  haul  had  been  reduced  to  3-8  of  a  cent, 
and  the  average  profit  had  fallen  to  1-5  of  a  cent.  You  see  that  by 
the  improvements  effected  the  cost  of  the  haul  had  been  reduced  to 
one-sixteenth  of  what  it  formerly  was.  As  demonstrating  the  critical 
need  for  this  economy,  appears  the  profit  on  the  transaction  which 
has  decreased  to  a  less  figure  than  it  was  when  the  cost  was  so 
much  greater.  Mr.  James  J.  Hill,  the  most  far-sighted  practical 
economist  who  has  ever  studied  transportation  problems,  is  now 
equipping  the  largest  ocean  freight  carrier  ever  built  upon  this  con- 
tinent. It  will  require  the  contents  of  more  than  one  thousand  freight 
cars  of  average  capacity  to  furnish  a  load  for  each.  In  order  to 
operate  these  monsters  of  the  sea  in  successful  competition  with 
the  subsidized  steamships  of  other  countries  and  the  subsidized  rail- 
ways of  Canada,  this  enormous  tonnage  must  be  hauled  in  both  direc- 
tions at  rates  so  low  that  the  returns  per  ton-mile  will  be  even  less 
than  the  figures  given  above  for  the  actual  cost  of  freight  trans- 
portion  on  the  Pennsylvania  railroad.  The  steamers  must  run  fully 
loaded  each  way,  and  to  command  this  huge  bulk  of  freight,  a 
smaller  fraction  of  a  mill  per  ton-mile  must  be  accepted  than  ever 
before  for  a  similar  service.  When  we  consider  that  it  has  been 
during  the  life  of  one  generation  that  the  cost  of  rail  transportation 
has  been  reduced  to  less  than  one-sixth  of  what  it  was,  and  the  cost 
of  steamship  transportation  probably  fully  as  much,  does  it  not  seem 
strange  indeed  that  we  are  contented  to  go  on  in  the  same  old  way 
when  hauling  the  same  products  over  the  common  road? 

But  the  loss  resulting  to  the  mining  industry  from  unsuitable 
roads  is  by  no  means  confined  to  regions  where  there  are  actually 
developed  mines.  The  wealth  still  hidden  in  the  almost  impenetrable 
fastnesses  of  our  Western  mountains  probably  far  exceeds  all  that 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  85 

has  ever  yet  been  disclosed.  The  intrepid  prospector  and  his  faithful 
burro  outline  the  primitive  trail  into  each  new  Golconaa.  These  trails 
in  turn  give  way  to  pathways  which  it  is  generally  euphemism  to 
dignify  as  roads.  These  roads  gradually  develop  into  great  arteries 
and  money  is  often  poured  out  with  spontaneous  and  unreasoning 
recklessness  to  open  a  new  mining  camp.  A  tithe  of  what  is  thus 
squandered,  with  results  as  evanescent  as  a  passing  dream,  would 
build  roads,  with  whose  coming  would  vanish  the  main  terrors  and 
hardships  which  mark  the  early  history  of  nearly  every  new  mining 
camp.  Prospects  which,  if  accessible  by  good  roads,  would  tempt 
capital  and  be  developed  quickly  into  new  mines,  lie  idle  year  after 
year  and  decade  after  decade,  solely  because  there  is  no  way  by 
which  they  can  be  economically  equipped  and  operated.  What  piti- 
fully short-sighted  ecomony,  counties,  hoping  to  make  such  pros- 
pects accessible,  build  roads  leading  to  them,  located  with  such 
steep  grades  and  in  such  improper  places  that  the  cost  of  hauling 
over  them  soon  becomes  manifestly  impracticable.  They  actually 
defeat  the  very  purpose  for  which  they  were  built  because  the 
fact  that  some  kind  of  a  road  is  already  built  makes  it  ten  times 
more  difficult  to  raise  the  means  to  construct  another  along  correct 
lines.  The  man  who  exerts  his  influence  against  the  building  of  a  road 
which  must  inevitably  prove  unsuitable,  confers  a  greater  benefit 
upon  a  mining  region  than  he  who  subscribes  himself  and  induces 
his  neighbors  to  do  likewise  for  a  kind  of  road  which  effectually  dis- 
appoints the  very  hopes  which  it  at  first  encouraged.  M'any  a  mining 
enterprise  of  real  potential  merit  has  been  irretrievably  wrecked 
because  an  expensive  and  appropriate  equipment  has  failed  to  pro- 
duce a  paying  mine  where  wagon  transportation  has  been  so  excessive 
as  to  consume  the  profits,  until  hope,  too  long  deferred,  has  yielded 
to  disgust  and  a  fatal  discouragement.  It  is  only  through  economy 
and  by  the  most  careful  methods  that  a  very  large  percentage  of 
mines  have  been  made  commercially  successful.  Is  it  not  just  as 
important  to  look  carefully  after  that  portion  of  the  expense  which 
goes  into  wagon  transportation  as  it  is  to  hoist  cheaply,  to  drill 
effectively,  to  ventilate  properly  or  to  save  the  ultimate  nickel  by 
elaborate  metallurgical  methods? 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  nor  do  I  conceive  that  it  would  be  appro- 
priate for  me  in  this  paper,  to  go  deeply  into  the  technical  principals 
of  correct  road  building  for  mines.  In  the  issues  of  the  Engineering 
and  Mining  Journal,  of  New  York,  for  May  16-23,  last,  appears  a 
paper  which  I  prepared  with  much  care,  deaung  with  this  phase  of 
the  subject.  In  the  year  book  of  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  for  1900  there  appears  a  paper  upon  mountain  roads, 
written  by  myself,  which,  while  it  does  not  contain  some  things 
which  I  conceive  to  be  valuable  for  the  engineer  who  is  constructing 
mining  roads,  does  touch  upon  certain  features  of  .mountain  roads 
not  so  fully  elucidated  in  the  paper  first  mentioned.  This  latter 
paper  on  "Mountain  Roads"  has  been  re-published  by  the  department 
in  pamphlet  form  and  is  furnished  gratuitously  to  anyone  upon  ap- 
plication. 

The  fundamentals  of  any  mountain  road  construction  are  grade 
and  drainage.  Prom  quite  an  extended  observation  and  experience  in 
mountain  road  construction  and  in  mountain  freighting,  I  have  reached 
the  very  positive  conclusion  that  under  no  circumstances,  on  any  road 
designed  for  general  freighting,  should  there  be  a  grade  exceeding  12 
per  cent.  I  further  believe  that  no  distinct  economy  is  secured 
by  reducing  mountain  grades,  at  much  cost,  below  8  per  cent. 
This  latter  conclusion,  reached  by  myself  solely  from  experience 
and  observation,  has  been  confirmed  by  traction  experiments  made 
by  the  government  and  by  individual  engineers. 

Of  course,  the  most  difficult  places  upon  any  road  where  trail 
wagons  are  not  used,  determines  the  load  which  can  be  hauled.  The 


36  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

engineer  who  is  locating  a  mountain  road  should  determine  in  his 
own  mind,  from'all  the  circumstances  in  the  case,  what  his  maximum 
shall  be,  and  when  he  has  once  determined  it,  should  adhere  to  it 
inflexibly  in  making  his  location. 

Grades  should  always  be  eased  and  the  road  bed  widened  on 
curves  and  the  approaches  to  every  sharp  curve  should  be  level. 

It  is  much  easier  to  drain  a  road  on  a  side  hill  than  one  located 
along  the  bottom  of  a  gulch.  Roads  facing  the  east  and  south  dry 
out  more  quickly  after  wet  than  those  which  face  the  north  and  west. 

A  side  hill  road  should  always  slope  towards  the  inside  bank 
and  never  towards  the  outside;  otherwise  the  tendency  will  be  for 
the  outside  of  the  grade  to  get  lower  and  the  inside  higher,  until  it  be- 
comes dangerously  sidling. 

The  essential  principles  of  mountain  road  construction  are  few 
and  simple.  The  main  need  is  common  sense  and  the  power  to 
reason  clearly.  Technical  training  is  valuable,  but  not  a  sine  qua 
non.  If  every  mining  man  would  get  these  principals  firmly  fixed 
in  his  mind  and  whenever  he  rides  over  a  road  would  mentally  in- 
quire "Is  the  road  here  rightly  built?  How  could  it  be  made  better?" 
The  beneficial  results  to  the  industry  would  be  quickly  apparent. 
Out  of  such  habit  would  come  discussions  and  a  general  influence 
for  better  methods  and  higher  standards. 

The  need  for  improved  highways  is  the  great  question  today 
which  concerns  every  locality,  every  interest  and  every  person  through- 
out the  entire  length  and  breadth  of  this  nation.  The  other  stones 
in  the  principal  march  of  our  material  progress  are  in  place.  The 
keystone  which  is  to  complete  it  into  a  symmetrical  structure  of 
strength  and  beauty  is  being  rapidly  shaped  in  the  quarry  of  public 
sentiment.  Day  by  day  its  outlines  become  more  clearly  defined.  The 
powerful  machinery  of  selfish  interest  and  promise  of  immediate 
pecuniary  return  to  the  individual  worker,  which  has  rendered  such 
effective  aid  in  fashioning  and  lifting  into  place  the  other  stones  in 
this  edifice  is  lacking.  This  must  be  wrought  to  completion  and  raised 
into  position  by  the  willing  hands  of  all  the  people.  Each  interest  must 
contribute  its  equitable  share  of  aid. 

The  Good  Roads  Propaganda  has  been  successful  in  awaken- 
ing the  people  generally  to  the  overshadowing  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject. The  apathy  of  ten  years  ago  has  almost  entirely  vanished.  "We 
must  have  better  roads,"  is  the  universal  cry.  Everywhere  now  people 
are  earnestly  studying  ways  and  means.  In  nearly  every  state,  at  each 
recurring  session  of  the  legislature,  bills  are  considered  and  many 
passed,  appropriating  state  funds  for  roads  and  establishing  methods 
for  securing  more  effective  results.  In  the  older  and  more  populous 
states)  highway  commissions  have  been  created  to  supervise  the 
expenditure  of  state  funds.  In  every  state  which  has  such  commission 
the  law  provides  that  the  state  funds  shall  cover  only  some  portion  of 
the  entire  expense  of  the  roads  to  be  built.  In  New  York  the  state  pays 
one-half,  the  county  35  per  cent,  and  the  road  district  15  per  cent;  in 
New  Jersey  the  state  pays  one-third,  etc. 

These  laws  mark  the  greatest  advance  yet  c-ttained  in  solving  this 
question  of  ways  and  means.  They  give  recognition  to  the  very  im- 
portant principle  that  the  cost  of  building  a  new  road  should  not  be 
bourne  solely  by  the  immediate  district  through  which  it  passes. 
Every  new  road  built  gives  an  added  impulse  to  the  state's  prosperity. 
It  increases  the  price  of  land,  induces  men  to  build  better  homes, 
invites  home-seekers,  adds  to  the  profits  of  every  industry,  brings  in 
new  enterprises,  enlarges  bank  deposits  and  promotes  activity  in  all 
lines.  The  general  industrial  life  blood  pulsates  more  vigorously. 
City,  county  and  state  treasuries,  each  get  a  share  of  the  increment 
and  can  well  afford  to  contribute  to  that  which  produces  it.  As  these 
results  get  to  be  better  understood  and  appreciated  the  equity  of 
dividing  the  burden  is  more  cheerfully  recognized. 

Extending  this  principle  of  co-operation  to  its  logical  limit  the 
advocates  of  road  reform  insist  that  the  general  government  should 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  37 

come  in  and  assume  its  equitable  portion  of  this  burden  of  cost.  The 
nation  is  a  community  of  states.  Whatever  contributes  to  their  pros- 
perity helps  to  make  it  strong  and  great.  The  funds  in  its  treasury 
come  from  the  pockets  of  all  the  people.  What  else  would  more  su-rely 
or  more  effectively  "provide  for  the  general  welfare"  than  a  policy  of 
expenditure  tending  to  improve  highway  conditions  throughout  the 
entire  country?  The  proposition  in  itself  is  incontrovertible.  The 
problem  is  to  satisfactorily  determine  s'uch  policy. 

Wherever  in  the  United  States  today  highway  reform  is  being 
seriously  and  earnestly  discussed  "National  Aid"  is  accepted  as  being 
the  logical  method  of  securing  it.  But  what  would  be  a  suitable  policy, 
fair  to  all  sections,  logical  and  effective  and  safeguarded  against  waste 
and  theft? 

Some  plans  advanced  contemplate  the  building  by  the  government 
alone  of  certain  roads  in  selected  localities,  should  be  main  arteries 
and  by  their  superior  excellence  should  serve  as  object  lessons  of  cor- 
rect methods. 

These  plans  are  opposed  on  many  grounds.  The  millions  upon 
millions  of  dollars  worse  than  wasted  under  some  (not  all)  river  and 
harbor  bills,  are  pointed  to  in  proof  of  the  error  of  any  plan  which 
opens  the  United  States  Treasury  to  log  rolling  deals. 

Next  winter  there  will  be  introduced  into  both  houses  of  Congress 
bills  designed  to  bring  in  the  government  as  a  co-operating  factor  with 
states,  counties  and  localities.  These  bills  will  provide  for  the  appro- 
priation of  a  definite  sum  to  be  apportioned  equitably  among  the  states, 
the  amounts  thus  apportioned  to  be  expended  in  conjunction  with 
equal  amounts  contributed  by  the  states. 

These  bills  will  provide  for  apportionment  directly  according  to 
population.  Some  favor  apportioning  half  the  amount  according  to 
population  and  the  other  half  equally  to  each  state,  on  the  same  basis 
as  the  states  get  representation  in  Congress. 

The  states  must  provide  by  law  how  their  quota  shall  be  raised; 
that  is  whether  the  state  shall  furnish  it  all,  or  the  state  a  part  and  the 
county  a  part,  and  perhaps  the  locality  another  part. 

All  bills  will  provide  that  the  money  shall  be  expended  under  the 
direct  supervision  and  control  of  expert  road-builders  in  government 
employ,  and  the  effort  will  be  made  to  thoroughly  safeguard  the  funds 
from  waste,  or  speculation. 

No  industry  could  have  greater  interest  in  the  solution  of  this 
question  than  mining.  I  appeal  to  every  man  within  the  sound  of  my 
voice  to  give  his  earnest  attention  and  careful  thought  to  this  matter. 
We  must  have  government  aid  in  some  form.  We  are  entitled  to  it. 
We  shall  get  it  when  the  people  demand  it. 

This  is  a  movement  that  grows  as  its  benefits  become  apparent. 
One  good  road  brings  another.  We  don't  expect  the  government  to 
help  build  all  the  roads,  but  we  do  expect  it  to  help  start  us. 

In  the  Western  Mountain  States  spaces  are  great;  population  and 
money  very  limited.  Good  roads  will  help  open  our  mines,  increase  our 
profits,  extend  the  area  of  profitable  agriculture  and  put  us  into 
position  to  better  afford  the  outlay  for  roads.  All  sections  need  them, 
but  these  new  regions  relatively  need  them  most.  As  illustrating  the 
awakening  on  this  subject  in  the  older  states  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  at  its  last  session  passed  a  law 
for  submitting  to  popular  vote  the  question  whether  the  state  should 
issue  fifty  millions  of  long  time  bonds,  the  proceeds  to  be  used  for 
building  improved  roads.  We  expect  New  York  to  stand  at  the  front 
in  Congress  in  demanding  government  aid. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  we  are  not  asking  this  as  a  favor  nor  as  a 
function  of  paternalism,  but  because  it  is  right.  We  must  have  the 
money  to  build  them  and  we  must  call  on  all  interests  to  contribute 
their  share  just  as  each  man  has  to  pay  his  individual  tax.  The  Gov- 
ernment is  an  interested  party  and  we  ask  for  it  to  do  its  proper  share 
and  to  show  how  it  ought  to  be  done,  just  as  it  shows  us  how  to  raise 
grass  on  desert  sands  and  to  get  best  results  from  each  particular  soil. 


38  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

It  is  a  case  of  "United  we  stand"  and  that  is  what  Government  is  for. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  next  on  the  program  is  a  paper 
by  Dr.  J.  D.  Irving,  of  Washington,  D.  C.  Subject,  "Ore  Deposits  of 
the  Northern  Black  Hills."  In  the  absence  of  Dr.  Irving,  Mr.  E.  R. 
Buckley,  of  Missouri,  will  read  the  paper. 

MR.  E.  R.  BUCKLEY:  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  It 
gives  me  very  great  pleasure  to  have  an  opportunity  to  read  this  very 
excellent  paper  by  Dr.  Irving,  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey. 
I  only  regret  that  Dr.  Irving  is  not  here  himself  to  read  the  paper  for 
I  am  sure  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  do  justice  to  the  subject 
which  he  has  so  ably  treated: 

ORE    DEPOSITS    OF    THE    NORTHERN    BLACK    HILLS. 

The  Black  Hills  have  been  from  the  earliest  time  a  region  of 
singular  economic  intere&t.  From  the  dates  when  Indian  hunting  par- 
ties visited  them  to  obtain  provisions  for  future  use,  they  have  grad- 
ually increased  in  importance  as  a  source  of  wealth,  until  their  produc- 
tion has  seen  its  culmination  in  the  thriving  mining  industries  of  today. 

To  the  Indians  the  hills  were  merely  a  hunting  ground,  and  the 
wealth  which  they  derived  from  them  was  only  in  the  form  of 
provisions. 

The  gradual  inroads  of  the  hardy  prospector  to  this  Indian  hunt- 
ing ground  first  attracted  attention  to  the  region  as  a  source  of  a 
different  type  of  wealth.  Rumors  of  the  discovery  of  gold  there, 
growing  as  they  traveled  further  from  their  source,  spread  the  impres<- 
sion  that  this  was  a  land  of  great  mineral  wealth.  The  increase  in  the 
number  of  men  visiting  the  Hills  soon  alarmed  the  Indians  and  brought 
about  hostilities  which  eventually  attracted  the  >  ttention  of  the  Federal 
Government.  The  story  of  how  military  expeditions  were  sent  here, 
of  how  a  party  was  finally  sent  out  to  investigate  the  truth  of  these 
rumors,  of  how  gold  was  found  there,  of  the  final  opening  up  of  the 
country  to  settlement,  and  the  gradual  inception,  rise  and  growth  of 
the  mining  industry,  is  well  known  to  all  who  are  familiar  with  the 
history  of  the  region. 

In  the  several  steps  of  its  growth,  mining  in  the  Black  Hills  has 
followed  quite  closely  the  lines  of  its  development  in  other  regions. 
First,  the  attention  of  the  early  prospectors  and  those  who  followed 
them  there,  was  given  to  the  more  easily  accessible  deposits,  the 
placers.  As  the  value  of  these  became  evident,  search  was  made  for 
the  source  from  which  the  gold  in  the  placers  was  derived.  The  old 
gravel  deposits  which  lie  at  the  bas'e  of  the  Cambrian  formation  were 
then  found,  and  for  a  number  of  years  yielded  almost  fabulous  sums 
to  those  who  had  located  upon  them.  The  impregnated  lodes  in  the 
schistose  rocks  were  discovered,  and  the  mines  which  have  now 
become  the  famous  Homestake  belt  were  gradually  opened  up.  The 
lead-silver  ores  of  Carbonate  then  became  productive,  and  still  further 
search  revealed  the  beds  of  refractory  siliceous  ores  which  have  of  late 
years  become  of  such  very  great  importance;  then  the  Ragged  Top 
ores  were  found,  and  finally  a  variety  of  smaller  deposits  was  discov- 
ered. Regions  where  ore  bodies  were  easily  accessible  at  the  surface 
were  those  first  prospected,  then  those  more  remote  and  more  deeply 
buried  beneath  the  covering  of  barren  rocks  in  turn  yielded  their  con- 
tents to  the  efforts  of  the  miner. 

The  members  of  the  Mining  Congress  are  spending  a  short  time 
in  this  region.  In  presenting  this  paper  to  them  it  is  the  purpose  of 
the  writer  to  take  up  successively  the  different  types  of  deposit  occur- 
ring in  the  Northern  Black  Hills,  and  to  make  as  clear  as  possible  their 
character,  their  value,  the  geological  association  in  which  they  are 
found,  and  to  s:et  forth  in  so  far  as  possible,  what  evidence  there  may 
be  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  have  originated. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  39 

To  make  this  discussion  a  little  clearer,  the  general  geological 
character  of  the  Black  Hills  will  be  briefly  described  and  then  the  dif- 
ferent types  of  ore  bodies  which  occur  in  the  region  will  be  severally 
discussed. 

GEOLOGY. 

As  a  problem  in  geology,  the  Black  Hills  differs  in  some  respects 
from  almost  any  other  to  be  found  in  this  country.  Surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  a  flat  and  rather  barren  country  whose  general  character  is 
monotonous  and  without  special  interest,  the  Black  Hills  rise  as  an 
island,  presenting  within  their  borders  geologic  problems  of  great 
variety  and  interest,  diverse  types  of  ore  deposits,  and  studies  in  land 
drainage,  which,  from  their  very  isolation  and  circumscribed  character, 
are  easily  grasped  and  understood,  and  are  without  the  usual  compli- 
cated connections  with  the  surrounding  country  that  make  most  geo- 
logical questions  so  difficult  to  comprehend. 

In  his  classic  work  upon  this  region,  Henry  Newton  has  described 
the  general  geological  character  of  the  Black  Hills  as  an  elevated  area, 
roughly  elliptical  in  outline,  comprising  a  central  core  of  metamorphic 
crystalline  rocks,  about  which  are  grouped  in  rudely  concretic  belts, 
strata  of  later  geologic  age,  dipping  away  in  all  directions  from  what 
is  termed  by  Newton  the  elevatory  axis  or  region  of  the  Hills. 

Where  the  strata  which  originally  covered  the  core  of  scists  which 
forms  the  center  of  the  hills  still  present,  we  would  have  an  eelvated 
dome  of  very  great  height,  rising  far  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
country.  The  gradual  erosion,  or  wearing  away,  however,  of  these 
uplifted  rocks  has  gone  on  together  with  their  upheavel,  so  that  we 
have  now  remaining  a  country  only  slightly  higher  than  the  surround- 
ing plains.  In  the  center  is  the  uncovered  area  of  schists,  and  at  the 
sides  the  stratified  rocks  dipping  outward  beneath  the  flat  prairie  land 
beyond.  The  general  trend  of  this  central  core  of  old  crystalline  rocks 
is  in  a  due  north  and  south  direction,  but  at  its  northern  extremity  it 
turns  quite  abruptly  towards  the  northwest,  forming  a  sort  of  geolog- 
ical cul-de-sac  shut  in  on  three  sides  by  upturned  strata,  but  separated 
from  the  main  portion  of  the  core  to  the  south  by  a  narrow  belt  of 
Cambrian  rocks1  and  their  included  masses  of  porphyry. 

Throughout  this  northern  area  erosion  has  not  cut  so  deeply  into 
the  crystalline  schists  as  further  south,  so  that  besides  the  rude  belt 
of  enclosing  strata,  isolated  patches  of  the  old  covering  lie  upon  the 
higher  hills  within  the  area  of  schists. 

If  we  examine  the  rocks  which  compose  the  different  geological 
formations  which  are  found  in  the  northern  hills,  we  shall  see  that 
there  are  four  different  groups  of  importance  which  can  be  readily 
distinguished  from  one  another.  The  first  is  the  lowest,  or  series  of 
metamorphic  schists.  It  consists  of  a  series  of  crystalline  mica-schists, 
mica-slates  or  phyllitesi,  and  laminated  quartzites.  Together  with 
these  are  found,  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  Black  Hills,  and  in  the 
region  known  as  Nigger  Hill,  large  intruded  masses  of  granite,  very 
coarse  in  its  texture  and  sometimes  containing  deposits  of  tin.  In  the 
northern  portion  of  the  hills  there  isi  no  granite  present  in  the  series, 
but  its  place  is  taken  by  numerous  dikes  and  great  irregular  patches 
of  a  dark  greenish  hornblende  rock,  termed  amphibolite.  Bodies  of 
this  rock  are  particularly  noticeable  in  the  vicinity  of  Lead  City,  and 
extend  as  far  south  as  Custer  Peak.  It  is  possible  that  they  may  have 
had  some  connection  with  the  occurrence  of  gold  in  the  Homestake 
mine,  but  there  is  no  definite  evidence  in  favor  of  this  theory-  The 
rocks  of  this  series  are  strongly  laminated  and  are  everywhere  tilted 
at  a  high  angle.  The  lamination  crosses  the  planes  of  original  sedi- 
mentary banding,  as  can  be  still  seen  in  many  places.  Numerous! 
closely  spaced  folds  are  also  seen  to  exist  in  the  series,  but  the  high 
degree  of  alteration  that  the  rocks  have  undergone  has  now  almost 
completely  obliterated  their  original  structure. 

The  next  series  of  rocks  is  that  belonging  to  the  Cambrian  period, 
and  comprises  those  rocks  which  lie  upon  the  eroded  surface  of  the 


40  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

coarse  bed  of  hardened  gravel,  a  thick  layer  of  quartzite,  and  a  series  of 
alternating  limestones  and  shalest  with  some  quartzite,  in  all  a  thick- 
ness of  about  400  feet.  Above  these  and  still  further  out  from  the 
center  of  the  hills  there  is  a  yellowish  limestone  showing  purple  spots 
and  belonging  to  the  Salurian  age.  This  is  about  80  feet  thick.  Above 
it  comes  a  series  of  very  heavily  bedded  gray  limestones,  pinkish  at 
the  base  and  averaging  about  600  feet  in  thickness.  It  covers  the  other 
rocks  throughout  the  entire  western  portion  of  the  uplift. 

There  are  present,  besides  these  sedimentary  rocks,  eruptive 
rocks  of  several  different  varieties.  The  most  abundant  of  these  are 
rhyolite,  either  fine-grained  and  white  as  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Home- 
stake  mine,  or  coarse-grained  and  darker  colored  as  at  other  localities; 
syenite  porphyries  which  occur  chiefly  in  the  vicinity  of  Deadwood  and 
Two  Bit  Gulch;  and  phonolite.  The  latter  is  generally  a  dark  greenish 
or  bluish  rock,  sometimes  quite  coarse  but  usually  exceedingly  dense 
and  fine-grained.  Other  intermediate  varieties  of  eruptive  rock  are 
also  present  in  different  places.  The  eruptive  rocks  when  found  in 
the  schist  series  are  usually  either  in  dikes  which  are  parallel  to  the 
lamination  of  the  schists,  or  in  large  and  more  irregular  masses  which 
have  no  definite  form.  When  in  the  Cambrian  rocks,  they  are  gener- 
ally sills  or  sheets  which  have  spread  out  laterally  to  great  distances 
along  the  planes  of  sedimentation;  when  found  in  the  Carboniferous, 
are  of  more  irregular  form,  sometimes  occurring  in  short,  thick  sheets, 
again  in  dikes,  and  still  more  frequently  in  very  irregular  masses. 

Much  discussion  has  taken  place  as  to  the  probability  of  the 
phonolites  which  are  present  in  the  Black  Hills  indicating  a  recur- 
rence of  the  typesi  of  ore  deposits  found  in  Cripple  Creek.  While  there 
are  certain  cases  in  which  tellurides  of  gold  have  been  found  asso- 
ciated with  phonolites  in  the  Black  Hills,  bearing  some  resemblance 
to  Cripple  Creek  ores,  the  existence  of  phonolites  themselves  in  this 
region  does  not  indicate  that  there  isi  likely  to  be  found  a  second 
Cripple  Creek.  Phonolites  occur  in  many  localities  in  the  world,  in 
Europe,  Mexico,  and  elsewhere,  and  are  in  most  cases  not  associated 
with  ore  bodies.  That  they  may  indicate  future  mineral  wealth  in  the 
Black  Hills  is  possible,  but  not  in  any  sense  essential. 

ORE    DEPOSITS. 

If  the  placer  workings,  which  are  distributed  widely  over  the  entire 
hills  be  excluded,  the  productive  mining  region  of  the  Northern  Black 
Hills  comprises  a  limited  area  of  about  100  square  miles.  It  extends 
from  the  town  of  Perry  on  Elk  Creek,  where  the  Clover  Leaf  mine  is 
situated,  northwestward  to  the  town  of  Carbonate,  on  the  east  branch 
of  Spearfish  Canyon,  while  its  widest  as  well  R,S  most  productive  por- 
tion lies  between  Terry  Peak  on  the  southwest  and  Garden  City  on 
the  northeast. 

Within  this  rather  restricted  region  are  closely  grouped  together 
as  many  as  nine  distinct  typesi  of  ore  deposits.  They  occur  in  each 
case  in  a  particular  geological  series,  and  are,  with  one  exception,  not 
found  in  the  rocks  belonging  to  any  other  formation.  Considering  them 
in  accordance  with  the  rocks  in  which  they  are  found,  we  may  distin- 
guish the  following  five  divisions: 

(1)  Ore  deposits  in  Algonkian  rocks. 

(2)  Ore  deposits  in  Cambrian  rocks. 

(3)  Ore  deposits  in  Carboniferous  rocks.  .      . 

(4)  Ore  deposits  in  eruptive  rocks. 

(5)  Ore  deposits  in  rocks  of  recent  formation. 

In  the  crystalline  schists  and  metamorphic  rocks  of  the  Algonkian 
age  are  found  the  free  milling  gold  ores,  some  small  deposits  of  tin, 
and  a  few  trifling  prospects  of  copper  which  have  not  yet  assumed  any 
great  importance.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  certain  deposits  of 
graphite  which  have  lately  attracted  some  interest. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  41 

In  the  Cambrian  rocks  there  are  gold-bearing  gravels  which  lie  at 
the  base  of  the  formation,  the  refractory  siliceous  ores  which  have  of 
late  years  become  of  great  importance,  the  lead-silver  ores  of  Galena 
and  vicinity,  and  some  deposits  of  wolframite  which  have  from  time 
to  time  produced  considerable  quantities  of  this  mineral. 

In  the  heavy  gray  limestones  of  the  Carboniferous  there  have  been 
found  in  the  vicinity  of  Ragged  Top  Mountain,  high  grade  siliceous 
ores,  and  at  the  town  of  Carbonate  the  same  recks  have  yielded  large 
amounts  of  lead-silver  ores/  closely  resembling  those  of  Leadville, 
Colorado.  A  few  deposits  also  occur  in  eruptive  rocks.  In  the  latest 
rocks  of  all,  the  gravels  which  fill  the  beds  of  modern  streams,  have 
been  found  the  placer  deposits,  and  while  they  are  chiefly  of  historic 
interest  as  representing  the  earlier  development  of  mining  in  the  hills, 
they  have  in  peast  years  produced  heavily. 

ORE    DEPOSITS    IN    METAMORPHIC    ALGONKIAN    SCHISTS. 

Since  the  attention  of  miners  has  been  transferred  from  the  gold- 
bearing  gravels,  which  are  always  the  first  producers  of  a  mining 
region,  the  free  milling  lodes  which  occur  in  the  Algonkian  schists 
have  assumed  greater  and  greater  importance  in  the  production  of 
this  region,  until  now  they  are  the  heaviest  producer  and  constitute 
by  far  the  most  prominent  factor  in  the  gold  production  of  the  region. 

There  are  in  general  two  areas  where  ores  of  this  character  have 
been  discovered.  The  first  is  the  great  Homestake  belt;  the  second, 
the  Clover  Leaf  or  Uncle  Sam  mine,  at  some  distance  to  the  southeast, 
and  quite  widely  separated  from  the  first. 

As  a  report  will  soon  appear  by  Mrs.  S.  F.  Emmbns,  discussing  in 
detail  the  geologic  structure  of  the  Homestake  mine,  the  writer  will 
give  only  a  brief  summary  of  this  important  ore  zone,  gathered  in 
large  part  from  previously  published  reports  and  personal  observations. 

The  Homestake  belt  is  a  term  which  has  been  applied  to  a  series 
of  mines  opened  on  a  great  gold-bearing  zone  in  the  metamorphic 
schists,  which  is  located  in  the  vicinity  of  Lead  City.  It  comprises  a 
group  of  mines  which  are  known  severally  as  the  Homestake, 
Deadwood-Terra,  Father  De  Smet  and  Caledonia,  but  as  the  Homestake 
Company  has  exercised  an  increasingly  important  influence  in  the 
management,  the  name  has  become  gradually  applied  to  the  entire 
belt.  The  surface  workings  or  open  cuts  from  which  the  ore  was  first 
extracted  in  the  early  days  of  the  history  of  this  belt,  indicate  in  a 
broad,  general  way  the  location  and  trend  of  the  ore  body.  The  Cale- 
donia ore  body  is  distinct  from  that  operated  in  the  other  mines,  and 
lies  to  the  east  of  it.  The  Homestake  ore  body  is  not  a  true  fissure 
vein,  but  is  a  broad  impregnated  zone  in  the  schists,  which  strikes 
approximately  north  34  degrees  west,  and  is  slightly  at  variance  with 
the  general  direction  of  the  lamination  or  the  schists.  There  seems  to 
be  a  rough  dip  to  the  east,  but  the  ore  is  so  irregularly  related  to  the 
rocks  in  which  it  occurs  that  the  general  inclination  cannot  be  given 
with  any  degree  of  accuracy.  The  ore  body  pitches  quite  noticeably 
toward  the  south,  so  that  at  the  southern-most  portion  yet  opened  up, 
it  is  much  more  deeply  buried  than  in  a  northerly  direction.  Alternat- 
ing with  the  lenses  of  ore,  and  also  to  the  eastern  side  of  them,  are 
many  dikes  of  white,  fine-grained  rhyolite,  which  have  passed  upward 
between  the  lamination  planes  of  the  schists  and  spread  out  in  broad 
flat  masses  in  the  remnants  of  flat-lying  Cambrian  strata  which  cap  the 
hills  to  the  west,  north  and  east  of  the  ore  zone.  In  places  most  of  the 
stratified  rock  in  which  these  porphyry  masses  have  intruded  is  now 
eroded,  and  on  the  summits  of  the  divides  which  separate  the  open 
cuts,  little  is  left  but  the  thick  sheets  of  rhyolite.  As  these  porphyry 
bodies  were  followed  downward  they  became  gradually  smaller  and 
fewer  in  number,  the  eruptive  rock  having  apparently  spread  out  as  It 
came  nearer  to  the  surface  and  formed  branching  masses  of  a  lenticu- 
lar form.  The  first  ore  which  was  mined  in  the  early  days  formed 
irregular  lenticular  masses  included  almost  wholly  within  these  dykes 
of  porphyry,  but  as  it  was  followed  downward  it  seemed  to  diverge 


42  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

from  the  porphyry  bodies,  and  in  the  deeper  levels  of  the  mine  is 
seemingly  entirely  independent  of  them.  It  is,  however,  an  interesting 
fact  that  in  the  lower  levels  a  mass  of  phonolite  of  a  dark  greenish 
color  has  been  found,  quite  closely  associated  with  the  wider  portions 
of  the  ore  zone.  No  exact  foot-wall  or  hanging-wall  to  the  ore  can  be 
detected,  because  it  is  in  many  cases  difficult  to  distinguish  the  miner- 
alized material  from  the  barren  country  rock. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  Homestake  lode,  owing  to  its  mineral- 
ized character,  was  a  harder  and  more  resistant  ledge  than  the  sur- 
rounding schists  of  the  Algonkian,  and  that  for  this  reason  it  consti- 
tuted a  reef  in  the  old  Cambrian  seas  before  the  sedimentary  rocks 
above  were  deposited.  That  it  was  then  mineralized  and  gold-bearing 
is  proved  by  the  presence  of  gold  in  the  basal  or  lowest  rocks  of  the 
sedimentary  series  which  lie  in  the  isolated  patches  about  the  outcrop 
of  the  ore  body. 

The  ores  of  the  Homestake  belt  taken  as  i  whole  cannot  be  said 
to  present  any  constant  features  which  serve  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  characteristic  but  barren  rocks  of  the  Algonkian  series.  Pyrite  is 
by  far  the  most  invariable  indication  of  mineralization,  but  it  is  notably 
absent  from  much  of  the  ore.  Quartz  also  occurs  in  a  great  number  of 
cases.  Perhaps  the  most  usual  type  of  ore  would  be  that  consisting 
quite  largely  of  quartz  and  pyrite.  Other  minerals  are  dolomite,  calcite 
and  arsenopyrite;  these  are  also  of  very  frequent  occurrence,  but  no 
decrease  in  the  values  of  the  ore  can  be  noted  when  they  are  absent. 
Again,  garnet  and  tremolite  appear  in  some  portions  of  the  ore  in 
such  abundance  as  to  constitute  a  larger  part  of  the  gangue  minerals, 
but  the  ore  here  found  is  of  no  difference  in  value  from  that  having 
a  wholly  different  appearance.  It  would  seem  that  when  the  ordinary 
type  of  schists  is  mineralized  the  ore  more  closely  resembles  a 
'schist,  but  when  the  amphibolite  is  mineralized  it  more  closely  re- 
sembles an  amphibolite.  Thus  it  will  appear  that  although  we  find 
pyrite,  quartz,  dolomite,  calcite,  arenopyrite,  tremolite  and  garnet 
frequently  constituting,  either  separately  or  in  combination,  the 
gangue  of  the  ore,  no  one  of  these  minerals  can  be  considered  an  in- 
dication of  the  presence  of  gold.  In  general,  however,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  ores  occupy  a  zone  in  the  Algonkian  rocks  which  present  a 
greater  number  of  secondary  minerals,  a  more  constant  occurrence 
of  sulphides,  quartz,  dolomite,  calcite  and  arsenopyrite,  and  finally 
a  more  advanced  degree  of  distortion  and  irregularity  of  structure 
than  do  the  barren  areas  of  the  same  formation. 

From  a  careful  study  of  the  ores  and  the  general  structure  of  the 
Homestake  belt,  it  appears  that,  first,  there  have  been  several  different 
periods  of  mineralization,  one  at  least  of  which  has  preceded  the  depo- 
sition of  the  Cambrian  rocks.  This  is  distinctly  shown  by  the  presence 
of  placer  gold  in  the  lowermost  gravel  beds  of  the  Cambrian  series. 
Second,  there  have  been  periods  of  mineralization,  which  followed  the 
entire  deposition  of  the  sedimentary  rocks  later  than  the  intrusion  of 
the  dikes  of  bodies  of  rhyolite.  It  is  probable  that  this  belt  has  been 
the  seat  •  of  many  fracturings  and  dynamic  movements  from  the 
earliest  geologic  time  until  the  present,  and  has  constituted  a  line 
of  weakness  along  which  mineralizing  waters  were  permitted  to  cir- 
culate more  freely  than  elsewhere.  Impregnation  of  the  country 
rocks  at  successive  periods  with  vein  minerals  and  small  amounts  of 
gold  has  thus  given  rise  to  a  workable  zone  of  gold-bearing  rock. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  the  mine  the  ore  was  completely  free  milling 
and  of  higher  grade  than  that  now  mined.  It  was  highly  oxidized 
and  contained  little  or  no  sulphurets.  As  the  workings  penetrated 
deeper  beneath  the  surface  oxidized  material  gave  place  gradually 
to  sulphides,  and  more  and  more  of  the  values  of  the  ores  failed  to 
yield  to  amalgamation.  For  a  time  the  concentrates  from  the  mine 
were  sold  to  smelting  companies,  but  experimentation  on  their  treat- 
ment gradually  led  to  the  construction  of  a  cyanide  plant  with  a 
view  to  treating  the  more  refractory  portions  of  the  ore. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  43 

It  has  been  assumed  by  many  who  have  written  upon  the  geology 
cf  these  ore  bodies  that  the  rhyolite  porphyries  which  occur  in  in- 
timate association  with  them  have  enriched  the  ore,  but  there  is  no 
evidence  to  support  this  theory. 

The  Homestake  mine  has,  since  its  inception,  been  an  illustration 
of  the  manner  in  which  a  large  body  of  low  grade  ore  handled  on 
a  large  scale,  could  be  made  to  yield  great  profit,  and  its  successful 
operation  has  been  due  chiefly  to  the  careful  nature  of  the  manage- 
ment and  the  great  business  ability  of  those  who  have  handled  it. 

CLOVER  LEAF  MINE. 

The  other  mine  which  has  been  operated  on  Algonkian  ores  is 
known  as  the  Clover  Leaf  mine  (formerly  the  Uncle  Sam)  not  far 
from  the  station  of  Perry,  on  the  Black  Hills  &  Fort  Pierre  railroad. 
Compared  with  the  Homestake  belt  its  production  is  comparatively 
small,  but  it  is  of  singular  geologic  interest.  The  ore  body  is  a  large 
saddle-shaped  mass  of  quartz,  enclosed  in  the  metamorphic  schists, 
with  its  apex  striking  north  64  degress  west  and  pitching  to  the 
southeast  at  an  angle  of  40  degrees.  The  horizontal  section  of  the 
quartz  body  as  exposed  on  the  25-foot  level  has  the  appearance  of 
the  letter  U  with  slightly  flaring  arms.  The  northern  arm  strikes 
north  40  degrees  west,  and  the  southern,  south  75  degrees  west.  This 
quartz  body  is  thickest  at  the  crest,  and  the  lamination  of  the  en- 
closing schist  is  parallel  to  its  surface,  curving  around  it  so  as  to 
give  to  the  mass  the  appearance  of  a  folded  lens  at  the  crest  of  a 
southeastwardly  pitching  anticlinal  fold  in  the  Algonkian  schist.  Both 
of  the  arms  of  this  quartz  mass  when  followed  out  from  the  apex 
become  much  narrower  than  the  main  body.  The  northwesterly  has 
an  average  width  of  20  feet,  the  southwesterly,  of  about  10  to  12 
feet.  The  gold  is  contained  chiefly  in  the  quartz,  in  which  it  often 
appears  free  and  generally  associated  with  small  particles  of  galena. 
The  quartz  and  the  encompassing  schist  are  heavily  impregnated  with 
pyrite  which  at  the  surface  is  completely  oxidized.  The  ore  is 
treated  in  a  stamp  mill  and  amalgamates  readily. 

Besides  these  gold-bearing  lodes,  there  occur  also  in  rocks  of 
Algonkian  age,  deposits  of  tin,  notably  in  the  southern  portion  of 
the  hills  and  in  the  region  to  the  west  of  Spearfish  Canyon,  known  as 
Nigger  Hill.  The  country  rock  in  which  these  deposits  occur  is  a 
coarse  muscovite  granite,  and  the  cessiterite  or  tin  oxide  is  scattered 
through  this  rock  in  irregular  patches  increasing  and  decreasing  in 
amount  with  little  or  no  regularity.  In  the  earlier  days  of  mining  in 
the  Black  Hills,  it  attracted,  as  is  well  known,  considerable  interest, 
but  the  unfortunate  character  of  the  enterprises  which  were  con- 
nected with  its  exploitation  have  much  retarded  its  development. 
The  cessiterite  occurs  also  in  placers  as  stream  gravels  which  have 
been  derived  from  the  disintegration  of  the  country  rock  containing 
the  tin.  The  cessiterite  in  these  gravels  is  but  little  rounded,  and  differs 
in  its  black  color  from  the  usual  reddish  brown  type  of  stream  tin 
so  commonly  found  in  the  vicinity  of  tin-bearing  lodes.  While  it 
is  possible  that  these  deposits  may  again  be  worked,  it  is  hardly 
probable  that  they  will  ever  constitute  the  basis  of  a  large  mining 
enterprise. 

A  few  small  prospects  of  copper  have  been  found  at  different 
places  in  the  schist  areas  of  the  Northern  Hills,  but  they  have  not 
yet  been  of  sufficient  size  or  regularity  to  attract  serious  attention. 

MISCELLANEOUS  DEPOSITS  IN  THE  ALGONKIAN  ROCKS. 

At  several  localities  within  the  productive  mining  region,  ores 
have  been  found  which  may  be  properly  described  with  the  Algonkian 
lodes.  They  are  partially  in  eruptive  rocks  and  partially  in  brec- 
ciated  material  composed  of  schist  and  porphyry,  while  at  times  they 
form  veins  which  pass  from  one  rock  into  the  others;  at  other 
points  they  pass  from  porphyry  into  Cambrian  rocks.  While  none  of 
these  have  yet  attained  any  great  importance,  there  are  two  that 


44  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

deserve  special  mention.  The  first  is  in  Strawberry  Gulch,  where 
quite  a  number  of  small  mines  have  been  intermittently  worked. 
Much  of  the  ore  occurs  in  a  decomposed  porphyry  in  the  form  of  thin 
auriferous  limonite  filling  the  small  fractures,  or  of  impregnations  in 
the  country  rock.  In  general,  these  pass  downward  into  unoxidized 
pyrite,  while  in  a  few  cases  sphalerite  and  galena  have  been  re- 
ported. The  porphyry  mass  in  which  these  ores  are  found  is  ex- 
tremely large  and  so  irregularly  intruded  into-  the  schists  that  its 
relation  to  them  cannot  be  readily  made  out.  Some  of  the  ore  ob- 
tained from  the  mines  is  reported  to  have  been  quite  rich  but  it  has 
so  far  been  too  irregular  in  its  occurrene  to  form  the  basis  of  ex- 
tensive mining.  The  second  locality  where  ore  has  been  found,  which 
is  chiefly  in  porphyry,  is  the  Old  Ironsides  mine,  near  the  mouth  of 
Squaw  Creek.  Here,  there  is  exposed  in  the  side  of  the  creek  a  sheet 
of  mica-diorite-porphyry  about  40  feet  thick  with  beds  of  Cambrian 
rock  both  above  and  below.  Through  these  rocks  runs  a  series  of 
vertical  fractures  striking  about  north  85  degrees  east,  along  which 
silicification  has  occurred  and  from  which  telluride  gold  has  been 
introduced  into  the  adjacent  rock,  often  to  considerable  distances 
from  a  fracture.  Some  of  the  crystals  of  telluride — presumably 
sylvanite — are  quite  large.  The  deposition  has  occurred  chiefly  in 
the  diorite-porphyry,  but  also  to  a  minor  degree  in  the  Cambrian 
rocks.  At  the  surface,  where  the  rocks  are  highly  oxidized,  gold  may 
be  seen  along  the  fractures  in  a  free  condition.  There  are  other 
places  in  which  ore  has  been  found  in  eruptives,  either  as  fillings 
or  fissures,  or  as  impregnations,  but  they  are  not  of  any  economic 
value.  The  eruptive  rocks  as  a  whole  have  not  been  the  loci  of 
considerable  deposits. 

ORE  DEPOSITS   IN  CAMBRIAN  ROCKS. 

As  a  producer  of  gold  the  Cambrian  is  second  in  importance 
only  to  the  Algonkian  series.  In  the  rocks  belonging  to  this  age 
or  those  which  lie  immediately  above  the  metamorphic  schists,  there 
are  four  varieties  of  ore:  First,  the  gold-bearing  conglomerates  or 
gravels,  generally  known  as  the  cement  deposits;  second,  the  re- 
fractory siliceous  ores;  third,  the  pyritic  ores;  and  fourth,  the  lead- 
silver  ores. 

THE   GOLD-BEARING   CONGLOMERATES. 

At  the  base  of  the  series  of  Cambrian  strata,  immediately  above 
the  upturned  schists  there  is  generally  a  bed  of  gravel.  It  varies 
in  thickness  from  a  few  inches  to  more  than  SO  feet.  Throughout 
a  large  number  of  areas  where  the  Cambrian  strata  yet  remain 
uneroded,  this  conglomerate  is  generally  about  three  or  four  feet 
thick  and  passes  upward  into  a  hard,  dense  quartzite,  which  has  a 
vertical  range  of  from  15  to  30  feet.  The  quartzite  is  almost  uni- 
versally present  at  the  base  of  the  Cambrian  series;  the  gravel  is 
generally  quite  thin,  but  attains  a  notable  thickness  in  a  few  localities. 
One  of  these  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Lead  City.  Here  the  gravel  is  gold- 
bearing  and  has  produced  very  heavily  in  the  past.  The  productive 
areas  of  this  gold-bearing  gravel  are  closely  grouped  about  the  Home- 
stake  belt.  They  are  five  in  number.  One,  comprising  the  Durango 
and  Harrison  mines,  is  west  of  the  Homestake  lode,  near  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  present  outcrop.  The  other  four  east  and  north 
of  it,  include  the  Hawkeye,  Monitor,  and  Gentle  Annie.  One  of  these 
lies  just  east  of  the  Caledonia  open  cut;  another  on  the  divide  be- 
tween Bobtail  and  Dead  wood  Gulches;  the  third  on  that  between 
Bobtail  and  Deadwood  Gulches,  and  the  fourth  on  the  north 
side  or  Bobtail  Gulch  beneath  a  heavy  capping  of  rhyolite  which 
forms  the  high  ridge  beyond.  The  gold-bearing  conglomerate  oc- 
cupies irregular  depressions  in  the  old  schist  surface,  and  was  prob- 
ably not  uniformly  distributed  along  an  old  shore  line.  It  thins  out 
to  nothing  along  the  strike  of  the  Homestake  lode  and  allows  the 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  45 

higher  measures  of  the  Cambrian  series  to  lap  over  onto  the  miner- 
alized rock  of  the  Algonkian.  A  general  downward  inclination  of  the 
schist  surface  toward  the  northeast  may  also  be  observed. 

It  is  not  possible  to  give  exact  boundaries  to  the  original  extent 
of  these  gold-bearing  gravels  on  account  of  the  dissected  nature  of 
the  areas  which  now  remain.  The  gravel  is  composed  of  rounded, 
water-worn  pebbles  of  quartz  schist  and  a  few  fragments  of  softer 
schist  which  seem  to  decrease  in  abundance  as  one  proceeds  further 
from  the  Homestake  lode, — that  is,  from  the  old  pre-Cambrian  shore 
line.  The  gold-bearing  portions  of  the  gravel  may  be  at  once  dis- 
tinguished from  those  which  are  barren  by  the  character  of  mineral 
which  cements  the  pebbles.  In  the  gold-bearing  portions  this  is 
chiefly  oxide  of  iron  when  weathered,  or  pyrite  when  it  has  not 
suffered  alteration.  The  non-gold-bearing  portions,  on  the  other  hand, 
have  also  a  rather  sandy,  quartzose  matrix,  or  are  in  some  instances 
slightly  calcareous.  The  gold  in  the  richest  portions  of  the  con- 
glomerate— those  first  mined — is  chiefly  placer  gold,  for  it  is  rounded 
and  worn  by  attrition  and  is  concentrated  near  the  bed-rock.  It  was 
undoubtedly  derived  from  the  erosion  of  gold-bearing  lodes  in  the 
Algonkian  rocks,  and  mechanically  deposited  in  depressions  along 
the  old  shore  line.  Some  of  it  has  been  dissolved  by  ferric  sulphate 
which  has  resulted  from  the  oxidation  of  the  pyrite  and  has  been 
redeposited  from  this  solution  in  thin  films  in  the  laminae  of  the 
underlying  schists.  This  has  also  produced  an  enrichment  of  the 
lowermost  layers  of  conglomerate.  Besides  these  two  types  of  gold 
which  occur  in  these  gravels,  it  is  also  possible  that  gold  was  intro- 
duced with  the  pyrite  which  either  cements  or  once  cemented  the 
pebbles.  The  introduction  of  pyrite  was  subsequent  to  the  deposition 
of  the  conglomerates,  since  it  penetrates  fractures  in  the  quartz 
pebbles.  It  is  probably  a  replacement  of  the  original  quartzose 
cementing  material.  Intrusion  of  rhyolite  cut  the  conglomerate  in 
many  places,  and  are  often  quite  heavily  impregnated  with  pyrite. 
The  close  relation  between  these  gravel  deposits  and  the  Homestake 
lode,  together  with  their  absence  along  its  line  of  outcrop,  seems  to 
indicate  that  the  Homestake  zone  projected  above  the  level  of  the 
surrounding  rocks  and  formed  in  the  old  Cambrian  sea  a  reef  about 
which  these  gravels  were  deposited.  The  greater  portion  of  their 
gold  was  thus,  with  little  question,  derived  from  the  disintegration 
of  the  old  Homestake  lode.  They  are  not  to  be  compared  exactly 
with  the  gold-bearing  sands  which  are  found  in  the  Nome  district 
of  Alaska,  but  are  somewhat  exceptional,  not  only  because  they  are 
the  only  representatives  of  what  may  be  termed  fossil  placers,  but 
because  they  are  not  uniformly  deposited  along  the  shore  but  were 
confined  to  the  vicinity  of  an  outcrop  of  a  large  gold  lode,  and  the 
detrital  material  from  that  lode  was  held  in  irregular  depressions 
in  the  sub-marine  surface  in  its  vicinity. 

REFRACTORY   SILICEOUS   ORES. 

Of  all  the  ores  occurring  in  rocks  of  later  age  than  the  Algonkian, 
the  refractory  siliceous  ores  have  thus  been  far  the  most  important 
factors  in  the  gold  production  of  the  Northern  Black  Hills.  They 
are  widely  distributed  over  a  large  area  extending  from  Yellow 
Creek  on  the  Southeast  to  Squaw  Creek  on  the  northwest  in  a  broad 
irregular  belt.  This  belt  includes  five  productive  areas  which  will  be 
later  discussed.  The  country  rock  in  which  the  ore  occurs  is  a  dolo- 
mitic  limestone  of  fine-grained  crystalline  texture  and  varying  like 
the  ore  in  its  degree  of  oxidation.  It  is  termed  "sand  rock"  by  the 
miners.  In  its  fresh  condition  it  is  a  dense,  gray  crystalline  rock, 
showing  innumerable  small  cleavage  faces  of  dolomite  and  generally 
interrupted  by  bands  of  greenish-black  shale  of  varying  width.  When 
oxidized  it  has  a  deep  red  color  but  presents  the  same  crystalline 
texture,  while  with  very  advanced  alteration  it  passes  into  a  red, 
earthy  material  termed  "gouge."  Chemical  analysis  of  this  rock  shows 
it  to  be  a  dolomite  of  nearly  normal  composition,  while  the  microscope 


46  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

shows  that  it  is  composed  of  irregular  masses  of  dolomite  with  some 
scattered  grains  of  quartz  or  clearly  bounded  rhombic  crystals  of 
dolomite.  When  the  rock  has  been  mineralized  these  are  altered  to 
silica  and  often  beautifully  preserved.  The  dolomite  beds  of  this 
character  which  have  so  far  been  most  extensively  prospected  occur  at 
two  positions  in  the  Cambrian  series.  The  first  is  immediately  above 
the  basal  quartzite  from  15  to  25  feet  above  the  schists  of  the  Algon- 
kian,  and  known  as  the  "lower  contact;"  the  second,  from  18  to  30  feet 
below  the  scolithus,  or  so-called  "worm-eaten"  sandstone  that  forms 
the  top  of  the  Cambrian  series  and  termed  the  "upper  contact."  Many 
other  beds  of  dolomite  occur  at  intervening  levels  and  some  of  them 
have  produced  a  little  ore.  There  has  as  yet  been  but  little  sys- 
tematic prospecting  upon  these  beds  and  it  is  very  probable  that 
they  may  become  important  ore  horizons  in  future. 

The  ore  is  an  extremely  hard,  brittle  rock,  composed  largely  of 
secondary  silica  and  carrying,  when  unoxidized,  pyrite,  fluorite,  and, 
at  times,  barite,  wolframite,  stibonite  and  jarosite.  It  shows  many 
cavities  which  are  lined  with  druses  of  quartz  crystals  or  contain 
clusters  composed  of  cubes  of  fluorite.  Some  of  the  cavities  show 
large  crystals  of  barite.  In  some  localities  the  siliceous  ore  is  heavily 
charged  with  wolframite,  so  that  in  many  instances  it  grades  from 
beds  of  siliceous  ore  into  flat  bodies  of  almost  pure  wolframite.  Oc- 
currences of  this  kind  are  found  in  the  Yellow  Creek  and  Lead  City 
areas.  When  carrying  large  quantites  of  wolframite  the  ore  usually 
contains  great  quantities  of  barite.  The  ore  occurs  in  flat,  banded 
masses  in  which  the  banding  is  continuous  with  the  bedding  planes 
of  the  adjoining  strata.  These  .masses  possess  a  quite  regular  channel- 
like  form  and  follow  zones  of  fracture  that  vary  for  the  separate 
districts  in  their  general  direction  but  exhibit  a  very  uniform  trend 
within  the  limits  of  any  single  productive  area.  These  channel-like 
ore  bodies  are  known  as  shoots  and  have  a  width  of  from  a  few 
inches  to,  in  rare  instances,  300  feet.  The  average  width  is  perhaps 
about  30  feet,  although  all  widths  between  five  and  100  feet  are  of 
frequent  occurrence.  The  length  is  in  all  cases  many  times  in  excess 
of  the  breadth,  and  in  the  case  of  the  Tornado-Mogul  shoot  is  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile.  The  vertical  dimensions  vary  from  a  few 
inches  to  a  maximum  of  18  feet.  The  average  thickness  is  about 
six  feet.  The  shoots  generally  follow  either  single  fractures  which 
are  parallel  to  their  longer  diameter,  or  broad  areas  of  parallel  or 
intersecting  fractures.  The  beds  of  rock  that  lie  above  the  ore  are 
generally  shale  of  a  more  or  less  impervious  character,  but  sills  of 
eruptive  rock  not  infrequently  play  the  same  role.  On  the  lower 
contact  the  floor  is  sometimes  of  basal  Cambrian  quartzite,  but  in 
many  cases  varying  thicknesses  of  dolomite  intervene  between  it  and 
the  ore.  In  such  cases  the  widest  portion  of  the  shoot  is  directly 
beneath  the  impervious  rock  of  the  roof,  for  the  solutions  have  spread 
out  and  replaced  dolomite  to  the  greatest  distance  along  the  under- 
surface  of  the  impervious  rock.  The  shoots  have  thus  a  wedge- 
shaped  form  in  many  cases,  the  broadest  portion  of  the  wedge  being 
at  the  top. 

THE  FRACTURES. 

When  the  ore  that  forms  the  body  of  a  shoot  has  been  removed 
the  fractures  by  which  the  mineralizers  have  gained  access  to  the 
rock  replaced  may  be  traced  in  the  overlying,  and  where  they  are 
uncovered,  in  the  underlying  beds.  These  fractures  have  been  ren- 
dered prominent  by  a  slight  silicification  of  the  adjoining  rock  which 
has  often  caused  them  to  project  from  the  softer  shaly  material; 
they  are  often  iron-stained,  also.  These  silicified  iron-stained  frac- 
tures are  commonly  known  as  "verticals."  They  may  be  observed 
in  greater  or  less  numbers  in  all  of  the  shoots  of  the  refractory 
siliceous  ore.  The  fractures  are  generally  slightly  warped  surfaces 
along  which  slight  movement  has  occurred,  or  they  may  be  composite 
zones  of  fracture  caused  by  the  intersection  of  many  small  irregular 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  47 

fissures.  The  displacement  along  such  planes  of  movement  is  gen- 
erally very  small, — not  more  than  two  or  three  inches, — but  it  some- 
times reaches  six  or  seven  feet.  They  are  usually  without  apprec- 
iable open  space,  for  the  walls  have  not  generally  been  removed  from 
one  another  for  distances  greater  than  one-sixty-fourth  of  an  inch. 
Some  notable  exceptions  occur.  They  are  generally  vertical  or  nearly 
so.  They  frequently  extend  into  the  beds  that  form  the  roof  of  the 
ore  bodies  and  sometimes  terminate  in  the  ore-bearing  beds  them- 
selves. They  have  also  been  traced  through  the  lower  quartzite  into 
the  Algonkian  below,  but  in  entering  that  formation  their  traces 
are  lost  in  the  vertical  laminae  of  the  schists. 

PRODUCTIVE  AREAS. 

The  productive  areas  of  refractory  siliceous  ore  are  five  in  num- 
ber and  have  been  severally  designated  Bald  Mountain  area,  Yellow 
Creek  area,  Lead  City  area,  Garden  City  area,  and  Squaw  Creek 
area.  The  last-named  area  was  at  the  time  of  survey  litte  more 
than  a  prospect,  but  has  since  become  an  important  producer.  The 
Bald  Mountain  area  is  the  most  extensive  and  important.  It  is  a 
northwest-southeast  belt  of  about  one  mile  in  width  and  four  and  one- 
half  miles  in  length,  and  the  width  is  limited  by  the  annular  exposure 
of  Cambrian  rocks  that  surrounds  the  Algonkian  nucleus  of  the 
region.  The  ore-bearing  strata  dip  to  the  southwest  and  pass  be- 
neath the  Silurian  and  Carboniferous  limestone,  while  they  have  been 
eroded  from  the  Algonkian  hills  to  the  northeast  with  one  or  two 
exceptions.  Hence,  on  the  north  the  ore  bodies  are  exposed  at  the 
surface,  but  to  the  south  shafts  are  necessary  to  reach  them.  At 
the  southeast  end  this  area  is  cut  off  from  the  Yellow  Creek  area 
by  Whitewood  Creek.  At  the  northern  end  the  Cambrian  rocks  are 
present  in  nearly  their  full  thickness.  With  relation  to  the  ore 
bodies,  the  area  may  be  divided  into  two  portions;  the  Ruby  Basin 
district,  and  the  Portland  district.  In  the  former  the  shoots  are 
larger  on  the  lower  ore-bearing  beds;  in  the  latter,  larger  in  the 
upper. 

The  Garden  City  area  is  situated  at  the  head  of  Blacktail  and 
Sheeptail  Gulches  and  an  east  tributary  of  False  Bottom  Creek.  It 
is  located  on  the  northern,  as  the  Bald  Mountain  area  is  on  the 
southern,  rim  of  the  Cambrian  outcrop.  The  beds  dip  to  the  north- 
east and  the  shoots  so  far  mined  have  been  on  the  lower  contact. 
A  rhyolite  cap  of  great  thickness  and  extent  covers  the  country  to 
the  north  and  the  Cambrian  beds  pass  beneath  it.  The  average 
trend  of  the  ore  bodies  here  is  about  north  55  degrees  east,  much 
more  nearly  east  and  west  than  in  any  of  the  other  areas. 

The  Lead  City  area  is  located  on  one  of  the  Cambrian  outlyers  that 
caps  the  hills  north  of  Deadwood,  and  the  ore  bodies  extend  over  the 
gold  lode  of  the  Homestake  mine.  A  heavy  sill  of  fine-grained  rhyolite 
lies  above  the  Cambrian  on  the  tops  of  the  hills.  The  ore  bodies 
are  exposed  at  the  surface  on  the  westermost  edge  of  this  area,  but 
lie  beneath  the  shales  in  an  easterly  direction.  The  ore  from  this 
district  was  richer  than  that  elsewhere  mined  and  contained  great 
quantities  of  barite,  wolframite,  and  in  several  instances,  large 
amounts  of  free  gold.  The  Hidden  Fortune  mine  is  an  instance  of 
this  kind. 

The  Yellow  Creek  area  is  situated  a  little  more  than  two  miles 
slightly  east  of  south  from  the  city  of  Lead.  The  ore  shoots  are  in 
a  thin  capping  of  Cambrian  strata  on  the  divide  between  Whitewood 
Creek  on  the  west  and  Yellow  Creek  on  the  east.  The  shoots  lie  on 
the  basal  quartzite  about  15  to  26  feet  above  the  Algonkian.  Much 
wolframite  and  barite  were  also  found  in  the  ore  from  this  area. 

The  Squaw  Creek  area  lies  near  the  mouth  of  Squaw  Creek. 
Workings  have  been  run  upon  some  ore-bearing  beds  which  pass 
rapidly  beneath  the  Carboniferous  limestones  that  cover  the  country 


48  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

to  the  north.  The  horizon  is  just  beneath  the  scolithus  or  "worm- 
eaten"  sandstone.  Ore  bodies  of  considerable  size  have  recently  been 
opened  here  and  the  district  has  become  a  productive  one. 

VALUE  OF  THE  ORES. 

The  gold  contents  of  the  ores  in  the  Bald  Mountain  area  run 
from  $3.00  to  $4.00  per  ton  to,  in  rare  instances,  $100.00.  The  general 
average  for  the  ores  in  this  district  is  about  $17.00,  and  those  contain- 
ing from  $10  to  $20  are  of  the  most  common  occurrence.  Ore  carry- 
ing $35  per  ton  is  considered  high  grade.  Seme  of  the  ore  mined 
from  the  Ben  Hur  mine  yielded  upwards  of  $60  per  ton  in  gold.  As 
compared  with  the  ores  of  the  lower  beds  those  from  the  upper 
contact  are  slightly  lower  in  grade  so  that  much  of  the  ore  is  often  left 
in  the  mines.  They  have  also  been  reported  to  carry  a  higher  relative 
proportion  of  silver,  but  although  this  is  true  in  individual  instances, 
in  general  silver  ores  are  as  frequent  in  the  lower  as  in  the  upper  beds. 

The  three  smaller  areas  of  siliceous  ore,  Yellow  Creek,  Lead  City 
and  Garden  City,  lying  over  or  to  the  west  of  the  Homestake  ore- 
body  or  its  continuation  produce  ore  of  uniformly  higher  grade  than 
those  from  the  Bald  Mountain  country.  The  mineralization  is  prob- 
ably later  than  the  igneous  activity,  for  the  verticals  which  supplied 
the  ores  often  cut  all  va-rietes  of  eruptive  rocks. 

As  igneous  rocks  cut  strata  of  the  Fort  Benton  Cretaceous  and 
pebbles  of  the  same  rock  have  been  found  in  the  basal  conglomerates 
cf  the  Neocene,  it  would  seem  then  that  the  mineralization  occurred 
somewhere  between  Fort  Benton  and  the  Neocene  and  it  probably 
represents  the  final  phase  of  vulcanism  that  was  concomitant  with 
the  elevation  of  the  Black  Hills.  This  occurred  while  the  Cambrian 
was  still  deeply  buried  beneath  its  covering  of  later  formation. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  ORES. 

The  refractory  siliceous  ores  have  been  formed  by  a  process 
which  involved  the  gradual  removal  of  the  original  rock  substances 
and  the  simultaneous  substitution  of  the  ore  minerals.  This  is 
commonly  known  as  replacement  or  metasomatic  alteration  and  has 
often  proceeded  with  so  little  disturbance  of  the  original  rock  material 
that  both  stratigraphic  character  and  microscopic  structure  are  pre- 
served in  the  ore,  although  the  original  rock  was  carbonate  and 
the  ore  chiefly  silica.  The  mineral  which  has  been  altered  to  form 
ore  seems  to  have  been  exclusively  dolomite,  for  where  verticals  pass 
through  rocks  of  varying  composition  it  is  found  that  dolomite  also 
has  been  appreciably  affected.  The  ore  minerals  substituted  are 
chiefly  silica  and  pyrite  with  which  there  are  minute  amounts  of 
gold  and  silver.  Smaller  quantities  of  fluorite,  barite,  gypsum  and 
several  other  accessory  minerals  are  also  of  frequent  occurrence. 
To  the  dolomite,  whether  present  as  comparatively  pure  beds  or  as 
cementing  material  of  sandy  and  shaly  rocks,  the  ore  minerals  have 
been  transported  by  circulating  waters.  Such  waters  have  found  in 
the  fractures,  trunk  channels  by  means  of  which  they  have  been 
enabled  to  penetrate  the  encompassing  and  comparatively  insoluble 
rocks  and  reach  the  more  readily  replaced  material  The  mass  of 
evidence  seems  to  show  that  these  waters  have  ascended. 

LEAD-SILVER    ORE    OF   GALENA   AND   VICINITY. 

The*  ores  belonging  to  the  fourth  division  of  Cambrian  ore  deposits 
ate  similar  in  form  and  mode  of  occurrence  to  the  refractory  siliceous 
ores.  They  occur  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  of  Galena. 

At  one  time  these  ores  filled  an  important  place  in  the  mineral 
production  of  the  Black  Hills.  About  twenty  years  ago  a  smelter 
was  in  operation  and  several  mines  were  producing  quite  heavily, 
the  Richmond  or  Sitting  Bull  mine  especially  having  figured  quite 
prominently  in  the  silver  production.  After  a  brief  period  of  activity, 
however,  operations  were  rather  abruptly  discontinued  and  the  district 
was  idle  until  the  year  1886,  when  operations  were  -resumed,  although 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  49 

upon  a  somewhat  smaller  scale.  Work  is  now  being  conducted  in 
a  rather  desultory  manner.  Mines  that  produced  this  character  of 
ore  are  situated  in  and  about  the  town  of  Galena.  Most,  if  not  all, 
of  the  ore  bodies  are  in  strata  of  Cambrian  age.  Some  of  the  prin- 
cipal producing  mines  are  the  Richmond,  Florence,  Hester  A,  Coletta, 
Merritt  No.  2,  Cora,  Carpenter,  Alexander,  Romea,  and  El  Refugio. 

The  ore  is  of  a  more  basic  character  than  that  found  in  the  more 
westerly  ore  deposits  heretofore  described.  When  unoxidized  it  con- 
sists chiefly  of  pyrite,  which  is  either  massive  or  disseminated  more 
or  less  thickly  through  the  body  of  the  country  rock.  With  the 
pyrite  is  associated  argeniferous  galena,  and  not  infrequently  small 
quantities  of  sphalerite.  In  many  cases  the  galena  occurs  in  seams 
in  the  pyrite,  or  as  druses  of  minute  crystals  lining  the  interior  of 
cavities.  In  all  cases  where  they  had  not  been  oxidized  these  two 
materials  have  been  found  associated  in  this  manner.  The  galena 
is,  therefore,  of  later  origin  than  the  pyrite;  occasionally  the  latter 
carries  low  values  in  gold  but  these  are  unimportant.  The  values 
that  render  the  mines  workable  are  contained  in  the  argentiferous 
galena.  In  most  cases  there  is  but  little  silica  associated  with  the 
ores,  but  in  the  Florence  and  Richmond,  very  considerable  amounts 
of  secondary  silica  are  found  in  intimate  association  with  the  deposits. 

ORES  IN  CARBONIFEROUS  ROCKS. 

In  the  heavy  gray  limestones  of  the  Carboniferous  are  found  two 
distinct  varieties  of  ore:  — 

(1)  Gold  and  silver  ores  of  a  refractory  siliceous  type; 

(2)  Lead-silver  ores. 

In  general  the  Carboniferous  rocks  have  not  figured  largely  in 
the  mineral  production  of  the  region. 

The  refractory  siliceous  ores  are  in  bodies  of  compartively  small 
size  and  are  of  less  importance  than  those  which  occur  in  other 
formations.  Two  districts  have  been  important  as  producers  the 
Ragged  Top  district,  and  the  Carbonate  district. 

The  Ragged  Top  district  comprises  the  country  which  lies  to  the 
northwest  of  the  large  mountain  of  phonolite  known  as  Ragged  Top. 
There  is  here  a  series  of  seven  nearly  equally  spaced  vertical  fissures 
or  veins,  which  have  been  termed  the  Ragged  Top  Verticals.  These 
are  fractures  or  crevices  in  the  heavy  massive  limestone  which  show 
at  the  face  a  maximum  depth  of  about  10  feet.  From  this  they  range, 
as  they  pass  downward,  to  extremely  minute  crevices.  In  the  lower 
portions  where  the  surface  alteration  has  not  been  extensive,  the 
ore  can  be  observed  to  pass  laterally  into  the  limestone  walls  with- 
out disturbance  of  the  structure  of  the  latter  rock.  It  is  a  light  uni- 
form buff  tint,  which  is  so  near  the  color  of  the  surrounding  lime- 
stone that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  it  from  the  unmineralized 
rock.  It  differs  in  its  superior  hardness  and  slight  yellow  color. 
Much  of  the  ore  is  composed  of  angular  brecciated  fragments  of 
what  was  once  limestone  but  now  is  completely  altered  to  silica. 
Traces  of  tellurim  have  been  detected  in  these  ores.  At  some  points 
in  the  limestone  area  about  Ragged  Top  Mountain  flat  blanket-like 
beds  of  ore  are  found.  These  are  either  without  distinct  connection 
with  the  verticals  or  seem  to  have  spread  out  from  them.  Some 
of  the  ore  from  these  verticals  was  quite  rich,  and  in  general  it 
carried  higher  values  than  the  siliceous  ores  found  in  the  Cambrian 
rocks. 

These  Carboniferous  siliceous  ores  have  not  at  any  time  been  very 
heavy  producers  but  have  yielded  small  amounts  of  ore  for  some  years. 
The  cyanide  process  has  been  used  in  their  treatment  with  much 
success. 

LEAD-SILVER  ORES. 

Lead-silver  ores  were  in  the  earlier  days  of  mining  in  the  Black 
Hills  a  very  important  factor  in  the  production  of  precious  metals. 
They  were  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  of  Carbonate.  In  1886  this 


50  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

was  a  flourishing  camp  and  produced  considerable  silver  and  lead. 
The  product  was  almost  exclusively  that  of  the  Iron  Hill  mine,  but 
other  mines  in  the  neighborhood  added  a  little  to  the  total. 

The  country  rock  that  carries  the  ore  is  the  gray  Carboniferous 
limestone  in  which  sills,  dikes  and  irregular  masses  of  porphyry 
have  been  intruded.  The  ore  bodies  are  of  two  kinds, — large  irregular 
bodies  of  lead  carbonate,  which  pass  in  places  into  more  or  less 
feet  on  the  east  side  of  a  thick  dike  of  fine-grained  white  porphyry, 
masses;  and  partially  filled  crevices  which  resemble  in  a  general 
way  the  verticals  of  Ragged  Top. 

The  first  type  of  deposit  is  that  which  has  formed  the  chief 
source  of  silver  in  the  district,  and  this,  as  shown  above,  was  largely 
obtained  from  the  Iron  Hill  mine.  In  this  mine  the  ore  was  a  large 
mass  of  argentiferous  lead  carbonate  which  extended  down  for  300 
feet  on  the  east  side  of  a  thick  dike  of  fine-grained  white  porphyry. 
Much  galena,  also,  was  found,  together  with  the  carbonates,  and 
after  the  ore  was  worked  out  a  seam  or  vertical  was  detected  extending 
downward  from  the  main  mass.  Other  pockets  of  ore  were  also 
found  at  different  points,  and  in  one  place  a  pocket  of  vanadinite 
containing  some  four  or  five  tons  was  encountered.  Mr.  Fowler  re- 
ports the  occurrence  of  the  following  minerals:  galena,  cerrusite, 
cerargyrite,  matlockite,  wulfenite,  pyromorphite,  platternerite,  ataca- 
mite,  and  vanadinite.  This  type  of  ore  resembles  in  its  general 
character  and  in  its  association  with  porphyry  bodies  the  deposits 
described  by  Mrs.  S.  F.  Emmons,  of  Leadville,  Colorado.  Too  little 
is  known,  however,  regarding  the  details  of  the  ore  occurrence  to 
afford  any  more  definite  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  it  originated 
than  the  simple  fact  that  it  is  probably  a  replacement  of  the  limestone. 

Of  the  second  type  of  occurrence  the  most  important  case  is  that 
at  the  Seabury  mine.  This  consisted  of  an  irregular  crevice  striking 
pouth  85  degrees  west  and  running  through  the  Seabury,  Iron  Hill, 
Segregated  Iron  Hill  and  Adelphia  mines  with  a  possible  continuation 
in  the  Spanish  R,  a  mine  in  which  some  ore  was  obtained,  but  at 
too  great  distance  for  its  relation  to  the  others  to  be  clearly  made 
out.  The  crevice  varies  from  one  to  twenty  feet  in  width.  The  sides 
consist  of  a  ferruginous  jasperiod  material  which  replaces  the  lime- 
stone, often  for  two  or  three  feet  from  the  crevice,  and  contains  at 
times  galena,  lead  carbonates  and  horn  silver  In  sufficient  amount  to 
be  profitably  worked.  The  latter  mineral  most  frequently  occurs 
as  a  thin  film  covering  druses  of  fine  quartz  crystals  which  form 
linings  to  cavities. 

The  center  of  the  crevice  was  loosely  filled  by  a  soft,  ferru- 
ginous, gouge-like  matter  of  a  pinkish  red  color  and  containing  gold. 
A  large  quantity  of  this  ore  is  reported  to  have  been  mined  from 
the  Seabury,  and  also  from  the  west  side  of  the  porphyry  dike  in 
the  Iron  Hill. 

Since  1891  there  seems  to  have  been  but  little  work  done  in 
this  district,  no  output  being  recorded  for  that  period.  Within  the 
last  year,  however,  a  small  35-ton  cyanide  plant  has  been  erected  to 
treat  the  tailings  from  the  old  smelter. 

In  concluding  this  brief  review  of  the  ore  deposits  of  the  Northern 
Black  Hills, — a  subject  which  it  is  difficult  to  treat  satisfactorily 
in  the  space  allowed,  one  seems  warranted  in  dwelling  a  little  on 
the  future  prospects  of  the  region. 

Mining  communities  are,  from  the  limited  nature  of  the  deposits 
upon  which  their  activity  is  based,  generally  short-lived.  That  this 
is  true,  one  needs  only  to  glace  at  the  history  of  many  western 
mining  camps.  A  few,  it  is  true,  have,  like  Leadville,  been  productive 
for  many  years,  and  will  probably  continue  to  be  so  in  the  future, 
but  there  are  few,  if  any,  which,  if  based  wholly  upon  mineral  pro- 
duction, will  not  in  time  cease  to  thrive  as  their  economic  resources 
become  exhausted. 

If  the  production  of  the  region  be  prolonged  sufficiently  for  the 
community's  activities  to  be  directed  along  other  lines,  what  was 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  51 

once  a  mining  camp  may  become  a  permanent  settlement.  In  the 
Black  Hills  there  are  perhaps  two  features  which  may  operate  to 
give  to  the  region  a  greater  permanency  than  that  which  is  generally 
seen  in  communities  which  are  held  together  by  mining  interests. 
The  first  is  the  unusual  size  and  the  presumably  long  life  of  the 
mines  of  the  Homestake  belt.  The  second  is  the  gradual  decrease 
in  the  cost  of  treatment  of  other  grades  of  ore  and  the  consequent 
opening  of  the  market  to  material  previously  known  but  hitherto 
unworkable.  The  introduction  of  the  cyanide  process  and  the  quan- 
tities of  ore  which  may  be  treated  by  its  use  have  done  much  to  ex- 
tend the  life  of  the  Black  Hills  mining.  It  is  not  improbable  that  these 
two  factors  working  to  gether  may  so  prolong  the  mineral  production 
of  the  region  that  the  population  may  never  be  less  than  it  is.  The 
other  interests  which  grow  side  by  side  with  the  mining  industry 
may  then  have  become  so  important  and  so  little  dependent  on  the 
mineral  wealth  of  the  country  that  their  existence  alone  will  be 
sufficient  to  support  the  cities  which  have  grown  up  in  this  mining 
country.  J.  D.  IRVING, 

U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  listen  to  an  address  by 
Dr.  J.  E.  Todd,  state  geologist  of  South  Dakota;  subject,  "Skecth  of 
South  Dakota." 

DR.  J.  E.  TODD:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  With 
your  permission  I  shall  endeavor  to  abridge  the  paper  that  I  had 
planned  and  instead  of  reading  what  I  had  prepared. 

(Dr.  Todd  maps  and  steropticon  views  to  illustrate  his  lecture.) 

SKETCH  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA  GEOLOGY. 

Introductory. — The  task  asked  of  me  is  to  give,  so  far  as  is  prac- 
ticable in  the  time  allowed,  a  sketch  of  the  geology  of  our  state,  par- 
ticularly of  that  portion  outside  of  the  Black  Hills.  The  Hills  being 
more  complicated  and  not  perfectly  explored,  I  cheerfully  leave  to 
others  who  have  more  time  to  devote  to  its  elaboration  and  pre- 
sentation. Moreover,  as  you  can  readily  understand,  we  have  only 
time  to  select  some  of  the  more  salient  features  of  the  vast  amount 
of  details  necessarily  connected  with  such  a  theme. 

It  will  be  my  aim  to  present  in  order  the  various  geological 
formations,  giving  their  leading  characteristics,  their  extent,  and  note 
their  more  important  economic  relations.  As  few  of  them  have  to 
do  with  mining  enterprises  directly,  I  shall  assume  some  freedom  to 
go  beyond  the  strict  aim  of  the  Congress  and  shall  venture  to  bring 
in  a  few  facts  directly  connected  with  mining. 

After  a  discussion  of  the  geological  map  I  will  present  illustrations 
of  different  formations  by  the  help  of  the  steropticon. 

GENERAL   STRUCTURE    OF   THE    STATE. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  unfamiliar  .with  our  state  I  make  a  few 
general  statements  which  may  seem  trite  to  those  already  well  ac- 
quainted with  it. 

South  Dakota  presents  greater  range  of  altitude  and  greater 
variety  of  topography  than  any  other  state  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. Its  lowest  point,  Big  Stone  Lake,  is  967  feet  above  the  sea  and 
Harney  Peak,  its  highest,  7,215  feet.  It  has  extensive  plains  rivaling 
a  floor  in  smoothness,  rugged  mountains  surpassing  anything  in  the 
Appalachains,  buttes  rising  like  giant  pyramids  above  the  plains, 
and  weird  bad  lands,  the  veritable  work  of  goblins. 

South  Dakota  has  also  a  greater  variety  of  geological  formations 
than  any  other  state  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  presenting  a 
nearly  complete  series  from  the  oldest  to  the  youngest  rocks. 

I  has  two  centers  of  ancient  crystalline  rocks  at  opposite  ends  of 
the  state.  Around  one  nearly  all  of  the  Paleozoic  formations  circle, 
and  against  the  other  most  of  the  Mesozoic  rest,  while  the  Tertiary 


52  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

rocks  lie  between  and  the  Quaternary  deposits  are  developed  in  won- 
derful profusion  both  of  aqueous  and  glacial  origin. 

Late  estimates  of  the  thickness  of  sedimentary  or  stratified 
rocks  in  the  state  reach  a  maximum  of  10,500  feet,  of  which  1,300 
are  Paleozoic,  8,000  Mesozoic,  and  1,200  Cenozoic.  If  we  make  the 
bottom  of  the  Cretaceous  strata  or  the  crest  of  the  "hog-back"  sur- 
rounding the  Black  Hills,  the  dividing  line,  there  will  be  about  8,000 
feet  of  sedimentary  rock  outside  of  that  limit  and  about  2,000  inside. 
In  this,  of  course,  it  will  be  understood,  we  neither  include  the  schists, 
granites  or  porphyries  of  the  Black  Hills  nor  the  granites  and 
quartzite  of  the  eastern  end  of  the  state,  which  together  are  com- 
monly estimated  to  have  a  thickness  two  or  three  times  as  great. 

The  stratified  rocks  outside  of  the  Hills  consist  mostly  of  soft 
shales,  clays  and  sands,  though  extensive  deposits  of  sandstone  and 
limestone  appear  in  some  localities.  The  general  softness  of  the 
strata  is  attested  by  two  inch  holes  being  drilled  2,000  feet  in  depth 
and  a  hole  over  1,000  feet  drilled  and  well  finished  in  four  days. 

We  have  said  that  the  stratified  rocks  were  arranged  around 
two  centers  of  crystalline  rocks,  viz.,  the  Black  Hills,  which  may 
be  compared  to  the  horn  of  a  saddle  and  the  other  Sioux  Falls 
granite  area,  which  runs  westward  from  the  wider  granite  area  of 
Minnesota,  which  may  be  conceived  to  form  the  back  and  ridge  of 
the  saddle.  This  ridge,  which  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  buried  moun- 
tain range,  disappears  under  the  later  strata  near  Mitchell,  but  is 
traceable  in  wells  to  the  vicinity  of  Chamberlain  and  will  doubtless 
eventually  be  found  existing  nearly  to  the  Black  Hills. 

Upon  this  saddle-like  sub-stratum  of  granite  rocks  the  Cambrian, 
Silurian,  Carboniferous,  Jura-Trias,  and  Creteceous  rocks  have  been 
laid  like  blankets,  declining  to  the  north  and  the  south.  Those  pre- 
ceding the  Cretaceous  have  been  formed  around  the  "horn,"  but 
have  not  reached  more  than  half  way  to  the  east  end  of  the  state. 
They  are  exposed  only  around  the  Hills,  and,  as  before  stated,  are  to  be 
described  by  another. 

GEOLOGICAL  FORMATIONS  AND  THEIR  PRODUCTS. 

Crystalline  or  Algonkian. — Before  taking  up  the  sedimentary 
rocks  we  spend  a  few  words  upon  the  granites  of  the  eastern  part  of 
the  state. 

Near  Big  Stone  Lake,  in  Minnesota,  extensive  quarries  of  granite 
are  worked.  The  stone  has  been  pronounced  equal  and  even  superior 
to  New  England  granite  for  ornamental  and  building  purposes.  The 
granite  extends  across  the  line  at  Big  Stone  City  and  there  is  an 
outcrop  five  to  eight  miles  southwest  of  that  place.  The  rock  rises 
several  feet  above  the  general  surface  and  there  is  no  reason  why  it 
should  not  be  quarried,  except  its  greater  distance  from  a  railroad. 
A  plant  is  already  in  operation  at  Aberdeen  for  working  and  polishing 
the  Minnesota  rock. 

The  Sioux  Falls  granite  t>r  quartzite,  named  after  its  prominent 
occurrence  at  that  point,  is  a  younger,  but,  if  possible,  a  more  durable 
rock.  The  outcrops  of  this  rock  are  scattered  over  a  rudely  triangular 
area  extending  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Iowa,  to  the  altitude  of 
Dell  Rapids  on  the  east  line  of  the  state,  and  westward  to  a  point 
a  few  miles  soutwest  of  Mitchell.  In  this  area  there  are  probably 
three  or  four  miles  of  naturally  exposed  surface,  mostly  in  the  valleys 
or  streams.  Such  exposures  have  been  quite  generally  worked  for 
local  use,  but  nowhere  for  exportation  except  at  Sioux  Falls,  at 
East  Sioux  Falls,  where  one  of  the  largest  quarries  is  located,  at 
Jasper,  Dell  Rapids,  and  Spencer.  The  rock  is  very  hard,  strong 
and  of  a  light,  cheerful  color,  sometimes  of  a  mottled  gray,  but  usually 
of  different  shades  of  pink  and  light  purple.  It  is  commonly  fine- 
grained, breaks  quite  evenly,  not  only  with  the  plane  of  stratification, 
but  also  in  other  directions.  It  is  susceptible  of  fine  polish  and  is 
much  sought  for  ornamental  and  building  purposes. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  53 

Recent  reports  announce  that  an  extensive  outcrop  of  another 
crystalline  rock  has  been  found  near  Sioux  Falls.  It  is  a  very  hand- 
some diorite  of  medium  grain,  black  and  white.  It  is  susceptible  of 
fine  and  durable  polish  and  promises  to  become  a  valuable  stone. 

Cretaceous  Rocks. — These  cover  nearly  the  whole  state.  S6me 
would  say  that  at  one  time  they  covered  the  Black  Hills  completely, 
and  all  agree  that  they  at  one  time  covered  the  whole  of  the  eastern 
end  of  the  state.  At  present  they  cover  about  nine-tenths  of  the  state, 
though  they  are  in  turn  more  than  half  covered  with  the  Tertiary 
and  Quaternary  formations.  In  their  thickest  development  they  may 
attain  5,000  feet  ore  more,  near  the  Black  Hills.  Beginning  with  the 
oldest  or  lowest  formation,  the  Cretaceous  includes  (1)  the  Dakota, 
(2)  Colorado,  (3)  Montana,  and  (4)  Laramie. 

Dakota  Cretaceous. — This  group  is  named  not  from  our  state, 
but  from  Dakota  City,  where  it  was  first  studied,  which  was  then 
a  pioneer  town  of  Missouri  Territory.  The  Dakota  includes,  begin- 
ning at  the  bottom,  (1)  200  to  350  feet  of  bluff  and  gray  sandstone, 
prominent  at  the  west  end  of  the  state  (Lakota), 

(2)  a  gray  limestone,   30  feet  thick,  locally   developed  near  Hot 
Springs    (Minnewasta), 

(3)  a   formation   consisting   mostly   of   shales   of   various    colors, 
30  to  100  feet,   (Fuson), 

(4)  a  massive  bluff  sandstone  which  usually  forms  the  crest  of 
the  "hog-back"  around  the  Hills,  35  to  100  feet  thick,  (Dakota  proper). 

Of  the  valuable  quarries  and  deposits  of  fire  clay  in  this  formation 
I  leave  for  others  to  speak.  It  is  more  in  order  for  me  to  dwell  on  a 
natural  product  furnished  by  this  formation,  which  easily  outranks 
in  utility  if  not  in  nominal  money  value,  any  other  natural  resource 
of  the  state.  Though  its  development  is  not  .called  mining  it  employs 
much  machinery,  involves  much  engineering,  nnd  employs  some  hun- 
dreds of  men  most  of  the  time.  Unlike  most  mining  the  product 
does  not  have  to  be  brought  laboriously  to  the  surface  but  comes 
without  effort  when  once  set  free.  No,  it  is  not  petroleum  or  gas, 
but  a  much  more  beneficial  element, — water. 

Notice  the  position  and  relations  of  this  Dakota  formation.  It 
underlies  four-fifths  of  the  state  and  has  similar  relations  to  the 
great  plains  generally  from  Canada  to  Texas.  It  is  overlaid  by  thick, 
impervious  clays  of  succeeding  formations.  Its  western  edge  lies 
from  3,500  to  6,000  feet  high  on  the  eastern  flank  of  the  crest  of  the 
continent  and  around  all  the  mountains  lying  east  of  that  range, 
like  the  Black  Hills.  There  the  water  enters  from  the  rainfall  directly, 
from  the  seepage  of  streams  which  traverse  its  edge,  and  from  the 
other  porous  formations  which  communicate  with  it  below  the  surface 
either  by  faults  or  contact  planes.  The  eastern  edge,  which  lies  only 
1,000  to  1,200  feet  above  the  sea,  is  comparatively  closely  sealed  up 
by  the  deep  covering  of  Cretaceous  clays  and  glacial  clays,  although 
there  are  notable  springs  which  show  themselves  at  several  points 
along  the  James  and  Missouri  rivers,  which  are  doubtless  outlets 
from  this  deposit.  Moreover,  the  erosion  of  the  glacial  period  and 
of  more  recent  streams  have  so  lowered  the  surface  that  one-fourth 
to  one-third  of  our  state  may  obtain  flowing  wells  from  this  source 
and  still  other  portions  may  obtain  inexhaustible  pump  wells  with  the 
water  near  the  surface. 

It  also  no  doubt  has  large  quantities  of  water  stored  within  it, 
much  of  it  possible  at  altitudes  so  high  that  it  might  keep  up  the 
supply  for  some  time  even  if  rain  and  river  should  cease. 

More  than  2,000  wells  are  now  flowing  in  the  state  and  are  being 
increased  by  about  300  a  year.  They  may  be  very  roughly  estimated 
to  furnish  over  70,000  gallons  a  minute,  which  would  probably  be 
about  ten  times  the  springtime  size  of  the  Cheyenne  River  at  Edge- 
mont.  Most  of  these  wells  are  small,  many  an  inch  and  a  quarter  in 
diameter,  and  it  is  now  generally  recognized  that  such  wells  are  not 
only  cheaper  but  more  convenient,  more  serviceable  and  longer-lived 
than  the  large  wells,  such  as  were  made  several  years  ago.  Most  of 


54  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

the  large  wells  have  shown  a  steady  decline,  due  probably  to  the 
fact  that  they  deliver  the  water  more  rapidly  than  it  can  gather 
to  them  from  the  water-bearing  rocks.  In  some  places  they  have 
fallen  off  in  flows  and  pressure  one-quarter  to  one-third.  In  some  nar- 
row areas  wells  have  ceased  to  flow,  apparently  from  local  exhaus- 
tion of  water.  But  on  the  other  hand  wells  have  been  flowing  nearly 
twenty  years  and  still  have  pressures  of  60  to  80  pounds  to  the  square 
inch.  Wells  have  been  used  for  nearly  that  length  of  time  for  power, 
running  electric  lights,  flouring  mills,  etc.,  and  are  still  in  use. 

In  several  of  the  wells  natural  gas  forms  an  important  ingredient. 
This  is  true  particularly  along  the  Missouri  River  from  Lyman  County 
to  the  north  line  of  the  state.  The  city  of  Pierre,  from  one  or  two  wells 
is  abundantly  supplied  for  lighting,  and  for  power  for  city  purposes, 
and  to  a  considerable  degree  for  heating.  Three  wells  in  Sullivan 
County,  one  in  Walworth  and  one  in  Campbell,  in  fact  all  which  have 
been  opened  along  this  line,  furnish  gas  in  similar  quantities.  It  seems 
not  unlikely  that  these  wells  lie  in  the  eastern  border  of  a  gas  region 
extending  possibly  as  far  west  as  Meade  County.  The  gas  seems  to 
be  derived  mainly  from  the  same  strata  whioh  furnish  the  water. 
It  may  possibly  enter  the  Dakota  formation  from  the  Carboniferous 
underneath,  and  may  be  originally  derived  from  extensive  beds  of 
carbonaceous  matter  deposited  in  the  eastren  margin  of  the  sea  of 
Carboniferous  times. 

Lignite  is  found  frequently  in  drilling  wells  in  thin  strata,  but 
so  flooded  with  water  that  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  obtain  the 
product.  Thin  layers,  12  to  36  inches  in  thickness,  have  been  found 
locally  developed  near  Ponco,  Nebraska,  and  Sioux  City,  and  also 
around  the  Black  Hills.  Petrified  wood,  though  not  of  a  quality  suit- 
able for  ornamental  purposes,  is  found  in  considerable  quantities 
around  the  Black  Hills. 

Colorado  Cretaceous. — This  is  named  from  its  prominence  in 
Eastern  Colorado  and  includes  a  series  of  shales  with  local  develop- 
ment of  sandstone  and  limestone,  estimated  by  Mr.  Darton  to  be 
from  1,450  to  1,700  feet  thick  around  the  Black  Hills,  and  it  is  from 
200  to  400  feet  thick  in  the  eastern  end  of  the  state.  This  series  is 
commonly  spoken  of  as  the  Benton  from  its  srreat  development  near 
Fort  Benton  on  the  Upper  Missouri.  The  Colorado  also  includes 
about  200  feet  of  chalk  and  calcareous  shale,  which  Dr.  Hayden  called 
the  Niobrara.  It  is  conspicuous  along  the  Missouri  River  from  St. 
Helena,  Nebraska,  to  the  great  bend  above  Chamberlain,  because  of 
its  whiteness  when  washed.  It  is.  however,  often  overlooked  when  un- 
weathered  because  of  its  grayish  tint  resembling  the  shales  above  and 
below  it.  The  Colorado  formation  contains  two  or  three  minor  hori- 
zons carrying  water  and  supplying  artesian  wells  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  state,  but  they  need  not  be  especially  distinguished  from  those 
of  the  Dakota. 

The  chalk  has  a  very  small  economic  value  as  a  building  stone, 
for  which  it  may  be  profitably  used  if  carefully  selected. 

Its  much  more  important  use  is  for  the  manufacture  of  Portland 
cement.  Its  fine  grain,  porous  structure,  homogeneous  character  and 
easy  grinding  make  it  admirably  adapted  for  mixing  with  clay  for 
making  a  superior  .grade  of  cement.  This  is  being  extentively  used 
for  buildings  and  sidewalks  throughout  the  str.te.  Its  chief  factory 
is  at  Yankton.  but  scores  of  such  plants  might  be  advantageously 
placed  along  the  Missouri  River  and  around  the  Black  Hills  if  there 
were  sufficient  demand. 

Montana  Cretaceous. — This  is  composed  mainly  of  the  Pierre 
shales  named  from  Fort  Pierre,  which  are  dark-colored  and  often  be- 
coming plastic  clay  when  wet.  They  are  about  1,200  feet  thick  near 
the  Black  Hills,  300  to  400  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state.  They 
constitute  the  most  extensive  stratum  of  the  Cretaceous,  covering  at 
least  nine-tenths  of  the  state.  This  is  the  "gumbo"  of  the  trans  Missouri 
region  and  constitutes  probably  nine-tenths  of  the  substances  of  the 
glacial  clays  east  of  the  Missouri.  Hence  it  is  a  dominant  element 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  55 

in  the  formation  of  soils  over  much  of  the  state.  It  is  rich  in  mineral 
salts  favorable  for  grains  and  grasses.  The  prairie  grasses  growing 
upon  it  are  noted  for  their  nutritive  and  fattening  qualities.  More- 
over, its  impermiable  character  holds  the  limited  rainfall  near  the 
surface  and  promotes  rapid  growth  in  the  rainy  season.  Afterwards 
it  dries  quickly  and  completely  and  preserves  the  grass  as  a  natural 
hay,  nutritious  as  grain. 

Its  plastic  character  when  wet  promotes  its  rapid  erosion  and  the 
frequent  occurrence  of  land  slides  which  have  an  important  effect 
on  the  topography  wherever  it  is  found.  It  carries  little  or  no  water, 
and  if  present  of  poor  quality. 

The  Montana  also  includes  the  Fox  Hills  formation,  150  to  300 
feet  of  shales  and  sandstone  overlying  the  Pierre.  It  may  possibly 
be  a  local  development  in  the  later  Pierre.  It  caps  the  eastern  part 
of  the  dividing  plateau  between  the  Cheyenne  and  Moreau  Rivers 
and  also  between  the  latter  and  the  Grand.  Its  sandy  character 
forms  a  natural  mulching  for  the  regions  where  it  extends.  Growth  of 
grasses  and  crops  extends  over  a  longer  period,  and  they  are  not 
subject  to  such  extreme  drouths  as  upon  the  'gumbo."  Springs  are 
not  infrequent.  Because  of  its  attractive  fossils  it  is  often  a  rich 
field  for  the  collector. 

Laramie  Cretaceous. — This,  in  our  state,  is  represented  by  perhaps 
2,500  feet  of  sandstone,  shales,  loams  and  clays,  interstratified.  It  is 
a  fresh-water  formation  unlike  all  preceding,  which  were  marine. 
It  was  formed  by  streams,  marshes  and  lakes.  It  is  probably  thickest 
in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  state,  thins  rapidly  to  the  south  and 
more  slowly  to  the  east.  Its  ragged  edge  extends  nearly  to  the  Black 
Hills  on  the  south  and  across  the  Missouri  River  along  the  northern 
line  of  the  state,  where  it  appears  in  conspicuous  buttes. 

For  soil  making  it  combines  the  qualities  of  preceding  formations. 
It  frequently  exhibits  fine  springs.  It  contains,  especially  in  its  upper 
portions,  thick  deposits  of  sandstone  which  in  time  will  be  very 
valuable  for  local  buildings. 

Undoubtedly  the  most  valuable  product  of  the  Laramie  is  lignite. 
It  has  already  attained  prominence  as  a  commercial  product  in  North 
Dakota.  There  it  is  found  in  thicker  beds  and  nearer  lines  of  trans- 
portation, but  beds  5  to  15  feet  thick  are  not  uncommon  in  the  vicinity 
of  Short  Pine  Hills,  Cave  Hills,  and  Slim  Buttes,  and  workable  beds 
may  be  found  north  of  a  line  extending  from  near  the  south  end  of 
Slim  Buttes  to  the  head  of  Fire  Steel  Creek,  in  northwestern  Dewey 
County,  and  thence  northeast  to  where  Oak  Creek  crosses  the  north 
line  of  the  state.  This  includes  an  area  within  our  borders  of  about 
5000  square  miles. 

Lignite  differs  from  coal  in  containing  a  large  amount  of  water, 
which,  by  evaporating,  causes  it  to  slack.  This  interferes  with  its 
convenient  use  as  a  fuel.  In  Germany  it  is  extensively  formed  into 
briquettes  or  small  blocks  which  form  a  superior  domestic  fuel. 

We  look  upon  the  Pierre  and  Laramie  as  the  most  hopeful  source 
of  petroleum,  if  such  be  found  in  our  borders.  We  are  led  to  this  by 
the  deposits  in  the  neighboring  state  of  Wyoming  and  by  the  fact  that 
little  or  no  trace  of  oil  has  been  found  in  the  drilling  of  the  numerous 
wells  in  the  eastern  portion  of  our  state,  several  of  which  have  gone 
down  to  crystalline  rock.  It  must  not  be  assumed,  however,  that  we 
have  sufficient  evidence  to  arrive  at  any  conclusion  in  this  matter. 

The  Cretaceous  was  a  time  when  reptiles  ruled  the  world.  Gigan- 
tic and  strange  forms  swarmed  upon  the  sea  and  land,  and  some  were 
even  given  wings  to  navigate  the  air.  During  Colorado  and  Montana 
times  the  forms  of  life  were  largely  marine.  In  the  Laramie  huge 
land  forms  became  numerous.  In  our  views  we  exhibit  some  of  them. 

TERTIARY    FORMATIONS. 

These  include  light  colored  marls,  sandstones,  and  clays  which  are 
so  conspicuous  in  the  White  River  Bad  Lands.  They  are  divided  into 
the  so-called  White  River  beds,  800  to  900  feet  thick  in  the  higher 


56  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

points  around  Pine  Ridge  and  thinning  out  in  all  directions  more 
slowly  to  the  east.  There  is  also  a  patch  in  the  vicinity  of  Short  Pine 
Hills  and  Slim  Buttes.  Over  these  lie  generally,  and  thicker  toward  the 
east,  300  to  400  feet  of  loams  and  marls  with  mortar-like  sandstones. 
These  extend  east  of  the  Missouri  River  in  the  southern  portion  of 
the  state  in  the  more  elevated  points,  like  Bijou  Hills  and  Wessing- 
ton  Hills. 

The  peculiar  erosion  of  these  beds  cause  the  noted  White  River 
Bad  Lands,  of  which  we  show  characteristic  views.  The  deposits  are 
all  of  fresh  water  origin,  the  work  of  rivers  and  lakes  by  which  the 
weathering  of  the  mountains  on  the  west  were  spread  out  in  extensive 
sheets  upon  the  plains  on  the  east. 

in  the  Tertiary  times  reptiles  had  passed  and  mammels  began  to 
have  their  day.  Nature  at  that  time  made  some  strange  types  which 
seem  to  have  proved  unfitting  to  continue,  but  others  have  by  trans- 
formation lived  on  to  the  present  and  are  now  the  esteemed  and  useful 
servants  of  man — the  horse  here  deserves  most  prominent  mention. 

Of  economic  effects  of  these  formations,  we  may  briefly  mention 
natural  shelters  for  stock,  frequent  springs,  and  contributions  to 
curiosity  shops  in  the  way  of  fossils,  some  ornamental  stones  are  found 
in  coniderable  quantities — satin  spar,  moss  agate,  and  ume  chalcedony 
or  sapphire.  Fuller's  earth  and  volcanic  ash  abound,  and  will  in  time 
be  counted  valuable. 

QUATERNARY    FORMATIONS. 

These  comprise  the  unconsolidated  deposits  which  lie  upon  the 
surface  of  other  formations  like  a  blanket  and  which  are  frequently 
spoken  of  as  drift.  The  eastern  half  of  the  state,  east  of  the  Missouri 
River,  is  almost  completely  covered  with  a  blanket  of  till  or  boulder 
clay,  10  to  200  feet  in  thickness,  lying  upon  highlands  and  lowlands 
alike.  Associated  with  it  are  belts  of  stony  hills  or  moraines,  lake 
beds  and  ancient  channels  are  frequent  features.  Here  are  included 
also  the  numerous  terraces,  some  of  them  300  or  400  feet  above  the 
present  stream,  and  sometimes  several  miles  in  width,  covered  with 
sand  and  loam  which  come  in  to  modify  the  effects  of  the  formations 
hitherto  discussed.  These  terraces  are  particularly  prominent  along 
the  western  tributaries  of  the  Missouri,  but  are  also  conspicuous  on 
that  stream  and  along  channels  now  vacated,  but  occupied  during  the 
glacial  period. 

The  marked  effects  of  the  Glacial  Period  upon  the  geography  of 
our  state  we  need  not  dwell  upon,  but  turn  our  attention  more  to  the 
economic  results  which  many  may  overlook. 

We  sometimes  become  impressed  by  the  great  expense  necessary 
to  prepare  the  natural  surface  for  the  proper  location  of  manufacturing 
plants,  irrigation  projects,  or  the  building  of  cities.  The  work  of  the 
glacial  period,  especially  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  state,  can  scarcely 
be  over-estimated  from  an  economic  standpoint.  By  it  the  surface  was 
smoothed  and  beautifully  graded  for  agricultural  purposes,  natural 
basins  were  formed  for  the  retention  of  rainfall,  thus  giving  an  object 
lesson  to  man  for  the  further  improvement  of  the  region,  extensive 
deposits  of  sand  and  gravel  were  formed,  the  components  of  various 
formations  were  intermingled  and  ground  together  to  form  a  rich 
sub-soil,  picturesque  lakes  and  pleasing  elevations  were  formed  for 
pleasure  resorts,  and  extensive  terraces  conveniently  located  along 
prominent  streams  seem  naturally  prepared  for  suitable  locations  of 
cities  and  towns. 

It  scarcely  need  be  stated  that  no  traces  of  precious  metals  have 
been  found  outside  of  the  Hills.  While  in  California  and  other  local- 
ities gold  has  been  found  in  Mesozoic  and  Tertiary  strata,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  it  has  always  been  in  connection  with  marked  dis- 
turbance of  the  earth's  crust  with  the  formation  of  veins  and  the  out- 
flow of  igneous  rocks.  No  such  disturbance  has  yet  been  noted  in  our 
borders.  Strata  have  been  somewhat  tilted  in  the  Slim  Buttes  and 
profound  crevices  have  been  formed  in  the  Tertiary  of  the  Bad  Lands 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  57 

and  filled  with  sand,  gypsum  and  quartz,  but  these  have  evidently 
failed  to  reach  to  the  deep-seated  waters  which  are  the  usual  vehicles 
of  precious  metals. 

The  finding  of  gold  has  been  reported  from  several  localities,  but 
it  has  invariably  been  found  to  rest  upon  very  superficial  or  mistaken 
evidence.  At  a  few  points  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  very  minute 
quantities  have  been  found  in  the  glacial  drift,  which  may  be  reason- 
ably referred  to  the  region  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  as  their  probable 
origin.  The  most  clear  case  of  this  sort  was  at  Gary  several  years  ago. 

This  is  the  story  of  the  rocks  of  our  state  outside  the  Hills,  so  far 
as  has  yet  been  interpreted.  It  is  full  of  promise.  Nature  has  done 
her  part,  probably  better  than  has  been  sometimes  thought.  Wherein 
our  circumstances  are  novel  or  peculiar  a  hint  is  given  us  of  the  pecul- 
iar testimony  to  which  a  kind  Providence  has  called  us.  The  secret  of 
commercial  and  social  success  in  our  commonwealth  is  to  learn  the 
truth  concerning  our  resources  and  the  best  methods  of  utilizing  them. 
Let  us  go  on  in  an  honest,  generous  spirit  to  make  the  most  of  them 
patiently  and  hopefully,  and  to  welcome  and  encourage  all  who  may 
cast  in  their  lot  with  us.  J.  E.  TODD, 

State  University,  Vermillion,  South  Dakota.  State  Geologist. 

Upon  motion  duly  seconded  Congress  adjourned  to  meet  at  Lead, 
South  Dakota,  September  9,  1903,  at  9:30  A.  M. 

Lead,  South  Dakota,  September  9,  1903,  9:30  A.  M. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Congress  will  be  in  session.  Owing 
to  the  fact  that  there  was  a  misunderstanding  as  to  the  time  and  place 
of  meeting  it  has  been  decided  by  the  Committee  on  Program  that  we 
will  transact  whatever  business  you  have  to  transact  this  morning  and 
simply  adjourn  the  program  until  1:30  this  afternoon.  What  is  your 
pleasure,  gentlemen,  this  morning? 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  Transportation 
Committee  desire  to  announce  to  the  Congress  that  from  the  10th  to 
the  15th  of  the  month  both  railroads,  the  Northwestern  and  Burling- 
ton, have  put  on  a  one  fare  rate  to  all  points  in  the  Black  Hills  north 
of  Custer  and  north  of  Hermosa,  and  one  fare  for  the  round  trip  in  and 
out  from  Lead  to  Deadwood,  so  the  visitors  at  the  Congress  who  are 
able  to  remain  over  after  the  Congress  will  have  the  advantage  of  a 
one  fare  rate  for  the  round  trip  in  and  out  from  Deadwood  to  any  point 
practically  in  the  mining  section  of  the  Hills. 

MR.  ELDER,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  -lesire  to  announce  that 
the  program  arranged  for  this  morning  will  be  continued  until  this 
afternoon. 

Attention  of  Congress  was  called  to  the  mineral  exhibit  at  Lead, 
and  all  were  cordially  invited  to  visit  the  same. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  am  requested  to  announce  that 
there  will  be  a  meeting  of  the  resolution  committee  at  eleven  o'clock 
at  the  Golden  Star  club  rooms:  all  having  resolutions  can  present  them 
there. 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:  From  Beading  the  by-laws  I 
would  infer  that  all  resolutions  are  to  be  read  by  the  secretary  and 
then  referred  to  the  Resolution  Committee. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  They  are  read  in  session  and  then 
referred  to  the  Committee. 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:  I  would  suggest  that  persons 
having  resolutions  will  present  them  now  and  allow  the  Secretary  to 
read  them. 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:  I  desire  to  have  this  resolution 
relating  to  requesting  the  statisticians  at  Washington  to  credit  to  the 


58  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

mining  industry  all  products  which  are  directly  the  result  of  mining, 
read  by  the  Secretary. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  the  resolution. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  resolution  will  be  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  I  would 
move  you  that  the  proposed  constitution  and  by-laws,  as  adopted  by 
the  Executive  Committee  be  read  at  least  and  presented  to  the  Con- 
gress at  this  time. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  the  Secretary 
will  read  the  by-laws  that  are  to  be  submitted  for  your  consideration. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  DEADWOOD:  Mr.  President,  in  considering 
these  by-laws  are  they  to  be  considered  as  a  whole  or  considered 
seriatim? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  is  entirely  at  the  disposition  of  the 
Congress. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF   DEADWOOD:     What  is  the  motion  now? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Simply  that  the  Secretary  read  the 
by-laws.  . 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  DEADWOOD:  I  reserve  the  right  to  move 
they  be  taken  up  seriatim  and  considered  by  sections. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  As  soon  as  they  are  read  they  will 
be  taken  up  for  disposition. 

MR.  LYNCH,  OF  MONTANA:  Do  I  understand  we  are  to  adopt 
these  by-laws  as  an  entirety  or  adopt  them  section  by  section. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  At  this  time  they  are  simply  present- 
ed to  the  Congress  for  disposition  simply  to  call  your  attention  to  it 
as  a  whole,  then  it  is  before  you  for  consideration  and  disposition. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  you  will  permit  of  a  suggestion,  in 
accordance  with  the  instructions  of  the  last  session,  the  Executive 
Cammitt.ee  executed  and  filed  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
of  Colorado  articles  of  incorporation  under  the  laws  of  Colorado. 
These  by-laws  which  you  are  now  about  to  act  upon  became  the 
by-laws  of  that  corporation.  The  question  may  arise  in  your  mind 
under  the  laws  of  Colorado  as  to  who  would  be  entitled  to  vote  on  the 
question  of  adopting  these  by-laws.  You  might  consider  that  question 
with  the  others  as  it  is  purely  a  legal  one  and  you  will  probably  want 
a  report  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  before  any  vote  is  taken,  so 
I  submit  that  suggestion  for  your  consideration. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  the  proposed  by-laws. 

MR.  ELDER,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  move  you  that  the  matter 
of  acting  upon  these  by-laws  be  left  over  until  Friday  morning.  There 
have  been  a  great  many  of  them  published  and  distributed  and  this 
is  the  first  opportunity  that  any  one  has  had  to  hear  or  read  them,  and 
it  seems  to  me  we  ought  to  have  at  least  a  day  or  two  to  consider 
before  we  act  upon  them.  That  would  give  us  the  time. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  DEADWOOD:  I  have  an  amendment  to  the 
motion,  that  it  be  made  a  special  order  for  9:30  Friday  forenoon  and 
that  each  section  be  considered  by  itself  and  adopted  by  itself  and  then 
when  through  that  we  adopt  them  as  a  whole. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF   MISSOURI:     I  will  second  the  motion. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  59 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that 
the  motion  just  made  be  amended  by  making  the  consideration  of  the 
by-laws  a  special  order  Friday  morning  at  9:30  o'clock,  with  the 
proviso  that  we  shall  consider  these  by-laws  section  by  section  and 
when  these  sections  are  adopted  that  the  by-laws  then  be  adopted  as 
a  whole. 

The  motion  was  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Are  you  ready  for  the  motion  as 
amended? 

The  motion  as  amended  was  stated  by  the  President  and  carried. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  As  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Credentials,  I  would  like  to  report  this  morning  that  we 
have  not  received  all  of  the  credentials  of  those  who  seem  to  be  pres- 
ent and  we  do  not  like  to  report  until  we  have  them  all  in.  If  there 
are  members  who  have  been  appointed  by  their  governors  or  mayors, 
or  Chambers  of  Commerce  in  their  respective  localities  notify  the 
Chairman  of  the  Credentials  Committee  and  he  will  be  pleased  to 
record  the  name  and  address.  The  Credentials  Committee  would  like 
to  report  as  soon  as  possible  to  this  convention  the  number  of  dele- 
gates here  at  present. 

MR.  ABBOTT,  OF  COLORADO:  Are  not  these  credentials  on  file 
v/ith  the  Secretary? 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  There  are  some,  but  I  am 
informed  there  are  a  great  many  not  in  the  hands  of  the  secretary. 

MR.  LONG,  OF  WASHINGTON:  I  am  seeking  for  information 
for  myself.  I  intend  to  announce  to  the  honorable  members  of  the 
Congress  that  I  am  here  as  a  member  of  the  Congress  and  have  with 
me  a  copy  of  a  monetary  measure  I  hope  to  have  introduced  at  the 
next  session  of  Congress,  being  a  solution  of  the  monetary  interests 
of  our  government,  and  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  me  if  I  might  have 
the  privilege  of  stating  the  provisions  of  it,  and  I  have  here  a  resolu- 
tion which  I  should  like  to  present  to  this  Congress  for  its  approval. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  DEADWOOD:  Mr.  President,  I  notice  we  have 
a  good  many  delegates  here,  and  I  believe  it  is  an  oversight  that  we 
have  not  a  page  or  messenger  here  so  that  when  a  gentleman  has  a 
resolution  it  may  be  taken  to  the  secretary,  so  therefore  I  will  make 
a  motion  that  a  messenger  or  page  be  appointed  to  act  on  the  floor 
for  the  convention. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  am  authorized  to  state  that  the 
mayor  will  provide  a  page  for  the  rest  of  the  session. 

MR.  GARLEY,  OF  WASHINGTON:  Mr.  President,  I  move  that 
the  resolution  of  Mr.  Long,  if  it  be  in  order,  be  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions. 

PRESIDENT    RICHARDS:      It  will  be  so  referred. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF   SOUTH   DAKOTA:     I  move  we  adjourn. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  It  seems  to  me  inasmuch 
us  we  have  an  hour  to  spare  before  12  o'clock  and  there  are  so  many 
present  that  we  should  not  adjourn. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  withdraw  the  motion 
to  adjourn. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  We  have  come  here  a  long 
distance  to  attend  this  Congress,  and  here  we  would  waste  an  hour, 
from  11  to  12  o'clock,  when  there  are  so  many  present,  in  not  using 
the  time  for  discussion  along  the  lines  of  mining.  I  have  not  anything 


60  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

particular  to  suggest,  .but  I  presume  there  are  others  who  have,  and 
we  would  like  to  hear  from  them,  those  who  are  delegates.  I  merely 
make  the  suggestion.  Tomorrow  we  will  not  be  in  session.  We  are 
invited  to  visit  the  Homestake  mine  tomorrow  and  there  will  be  no 
session.  The  next  day  is  Friday  and  there  will  be  a  great  many, 
probably,  thinking  about  going  home.  There  are  also  many  thinking 
of  taking  little  short  trips  through  the  Hills  to  see  the  Black  Hills 
while  they  are  here,  which  is  well  worthy  of  a  trip.  I  have  been  all 
over  them  and  I  want  to  say  to  those  who  can  make  the  trip,  that  you 
cannot  make  any  trip  in  any  direction  here  but  what  will  be  edifying, 
instructive  and  entertaining  and  I  would  like  to  see  every  one,  who 
has  the  inclination  and  the  time  to  take  a  trip,  for  instance,  to  Spear- 
fish,  and  to  other  points  of  interest,  mining  interests,  in  this  section. 
For  that  reason,  as  well  as  other  reasons,  I  think  we  had  best  devote 
this  hour  until  the  noon  time,  in  discussion,  general  miscellaneous 
discussion  in  the  interests  of  our  Congress. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  suggestion  is  certainly  a  good 
one,  and  we  would  be  glad  to  hear  from  any  one  at  this  time. 

MR.  ELDER,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  It  was  announced  just  a 
mo*ment  ago  that  the  program  that  was  arranged  for  this  forenoon 
would  be  continued  until  this  afternoon.  I  do  not  know  whether  many 
have  left  the  hall  who  desired  to  hear  a  paper  or  not,  but  if  they  have 
not  I  would  say  we  have  the  paper  set  down  for  this  forenoon  by  Mr. 
John  Blatchford,  of  Terry,  South  Dakota,  read  at  this  time.  I  know 
we  could  not  put  the  forenoon  in  in  any  way  that  would  be  more 
profitable  than  by  listening  to  his  paper,  and  it.  will  occupy  about  30 
minutes,  as  I  understand  it,  and  fill  in  the  balance  of  the  session  and 
also  give  opportunity  for  discussion  and  question  on  this  subject.  He 
has  consented  to  read  this  paper  this  morning  if  the  Congress  so 
desires.  (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  then  we  will 
be  pleased  to  hear  from  Mr.  John  Blatchford,  of  Terry,  S.  D.,  at  this 
time.  (Applause.) 

Mr.  John  Blatchford,  of  Terry,  South  Dakota,  read  the  following 
paper: 

THE  POTTSDAM  OR  FLAT  FORMATION   OF  THE   BALD  MOUN- 
TAIN   DISTRICT. 

In  describing  a  portion  of  this  formation  I  shall  only  touch  on  the 
geological  part  of  it  because  that  has  been  gone  into  so  extensively  by 
such  men  as  Newton,  Devereaux,  Headden,  Blake,  Jenney,  Carpenter, 
Hoffman,  Farrish,  Dr.  McGillicuddy,  Rickard,  Smith,  Fulton,  O'Hara, 
and  a  number  of  other  noted  men  who  have  written  some  very  good 
papers  showing  the  geological  features  of  this  part  of  the  country.  I 
merely  intend  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  occurrences  of  the  ore  bodies 
as  we  find  them  in  this  formation. 

These  ores  were  first  discovered  in  1877,  uut  there  was  very  little 
done  on  them  until  1890  and  1891,  because,  up  to  this  time,  all  of  the 
ore  had  to  be  hauled  by  teams  and  shipped  out  of  the  country  to  be 
treated.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1891  the  Burlington  and 
the  Elkhorn  Railroad  Companies  placed  a  number  of  spurs  into  the  dif- 
ferent mines,  after  this  the  work  really  began  in  earnest. 

At  this  time  it  was  not  known  how  extensive  these  ore  bodies 
would  prove  to  be,  but  after  continuous  work  for  over  twelve  years, 
now,  we  find  that  they  are  almost  unlimited.  Ores  that  we  could  not 
look  at  years  ago,  on  account  of  their  low  grade,  can  be  handled  today, 
with  our  new  reducing  or  cyanide  process,  at  a  profit. 

Since  it  has  been  discovered  what  these  ores  can  be  treated  for 
with  this  process,  we  find  that  we  have  to  work  over  the  whole  section, 
which  we  have  been  working  on  since  we  began.  There  is  no  doubt 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  61 

but  that  this  will  be  a  great  advantage  to  us,  in  the  future,  because  we 
will  be  able  to  take  out  our  low  grade  ore,  as  well  as  the  better  grade, 
as  we  advance  in  our  work. 

The  ore  bodies  or  chutes  are  numerous.  The  largest  bodies  so  far 
discovered,  of  the  better  grade  ore,  east  of  Bald  Mountain  and  Terry's 
Peak,  lie  on  the  quartzites,  and  these  lie  on  the  Archean  schists  and 
slates;  this  is  what  is  known  as  the  vertical  formation.  Some  "places 
in  our  mines,  the  flat  ore  body  is  known  to  lie  and  to  be  intermixed 
with  a  vertical  ore  body,  which  comes  from  below,  not  showing  any 
division  by  quartzites.  It  is  one  of  the  occurrences  which  causes  me 
to  believe  that  there  are  a  number  of  these  vertical  ore  bodies  or 
quartz  ledges,  that  are  covered  up  by  this  sedimentary  formation,  for 
instance,  quite  a  portion  of  the  Homestake  ore  bodies  have  been  more 
or  less  covered  by  this  flat  formation,  but  in  other  places  the  flat 
portion  being  more  or  less  eroded,  left  the  vertical  portion  to  be  more 
easily  prospected  than  it  is  in  this  district. 

The  eastern  boundary  of  the  flat  formation  begins  at  the  original 
Golden  Reward  and  Buxton  and  almost  at  the  base  of  Bald  Mountain 
on  the  north,  and  to  the  west  of  Sugar  Loaf  Mountain  on  the 
south.  It  starts  with  a  thin  layer  of  quartzite,  lying  on  the 
schist,  covered  with  standstone  and  shales;  it  gradually  thickens 
toward  the  west,  not  so  much  because  the  hill  rises  but  because  the 
quartzite  and  schist  drop.  It  drops  at  various  distances  at  a  time  until 
it  gets  several  hundred  feet  below  the  surface;  making  a  number  of 
layers  of  different  material  above  it,  and  on  and  between  some  of 
these  layers  is  where  we  find  what  is  called  top  contacts. 

As  we  get  nearer  Terry's  Peak  the  flat  formation  thickens  more 
by  the  rise  of  the  surface  than  by  the  fall  of  the  quartzite  and  west 
of  the  Peak  it  seems  to  keep  this  thickness  for  a  number  of  miles. 
Towards  this  rise  or  thickening  of  the  formation  is  where  the  top 
layers  of  ore  become  more  numerous.  How  many  layers  or  so  called 
contracts  there  are  has  not  yet  been  determined.  There*  is  something 
new-continually  cropping  out. 

In  these  upper  layers  we  usually  find  a  vertical  or  crack  filled  with 
ore  extending  downward  for  hundreds  of  feet,  with  a  number  of  lense 
like  shaped  bodies  of  ore,  branching  out  at  different  intervals,  some 
places  connecting  with  bodies  from  nearby  verticals. 

At  present  most  of  the  workings  west  of  the  Peak  are  on  the  upper 
contacts.  In  the  Ragged  Top  district  the  ore  bodies  are  up  in  the  lime 
and  they  are  proving  to  be  very  extensive  and  profitable.  Around 
Portland  they  are  all  in  the  shales,  scarcely  any  work  in  that 
neighborhood  being  done  on  the  quartzite  as  yet.  There  is  no  doubt 
in  my  mind  when  they  commence  to  look  for  the  lower  ore  bodies 
west  of  the  Peak  but  that  they  will  find  them  large  and  valuable  on 
the  quartzite  just  the  same  as  they  occur  east  of  the  Peak. 

The  gulches  on  the  surface  on  the  east  side  of  the  mountain  all 
trend  toward  the  east  and  on  the  west  side  of  the  mountain  toward 
the  west,  but  underground  we  find  this  different;  from  Bald  Mountain 
south  it  appears  that  the  original  channels  all  flowed  to  the  south  and 
from  the  north  of  Bald  Mountain  to  the  north.  The  water  courses  and 
the  dip  of  the  quartzite  show  this  to  be  the  case.  Present  conditions 
are  exactly  the  opposite  of  the  original  conditions.  The  original  dikes 
all  have  a  north  and  south  course,  while  a  few  of  the  later  dikes  near 
the  base  of  Bald  Mountain  have  an  east  and  west  course  and  the  ore 
bodies  or  nine  per  cent,  of  them  have  a  north  and  south  course. 

These  ore  bodies  vary  in  width  and  thickness;  we  find  some  of 
them  over  four  hundred  feet  in  width  and  various  thicknesses,  from 
six  to  twenty  feet,  and  of  various  values,  ranging  from  five  to  fifty 
dollars.  The  general  average  of  what  we  call  smelter  ores  are  about 
twenty  dollars  per  ton  and  a  general  average  for  cyanite  ores  in  the 
nighborhood  of  eight  to  ten  dollars  per  ton. 

To  describe  the  conditions  of  the  quartzite  we  may  compare  them 
with  the  waves  of  the  ocean.  Some  places  we  might  imagine  there 
was  not  much  wind  making  the  quartzite  smooth,  and  then  a  big  wind 


62  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

lifts  the  wave  up  from  two  to  three  hundred  feet,  the  quartzite  raises 
the  same,  some  places  we  have  one  hundred  feet  from  that  to  two 
hundred  feet  or  more  across  the  top  of  it,  going  down  again  some 
places  almost  at  a  vertical,  or  some  places  with  a  gradual  slope, 
others  with  steps. 

We  find  these  ore  bodies  at  the  base,  on  the  steps  and  slopes  most, 
times  on  the  top  of  these  large  uplifts,  but  very  seldom  find  any  ore 
bodies  in  the  channel  proper.  And  it  appears  that  the  most  of  the 
level  places  in  the  quartzites  seem  to  be  capped  with  large  sheets  of 
porphyry,  but  at  every  fault  and  in  close  proximity  to  a  fault.  The 
capping  is  most  all  composed  of  shales  and  sandrocks.  No  doubt  this 
has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  occurrences  of  the  ore  along  the  breaks, 
those  being  in  themselves  an  altered  condition  of  these  same  shales 
and  sandrocks. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  this  flat  ore  formation  follows  the 
lime  stone  ridge  from  between  fifty  and  sixty  miles  on  the  south  and 
about  twenty-five  miles  on  the  west,  and  to  Spearfish  on  the  north. 

This  does  not  include  all  of  the  flat  formation  of  the  Black  Hills. 
The  Galena  district  Eas  a  very  extensive  area  of  this  formation.  The 
present  developments  there  are  very  encouraging,  although  there  has 
not  been  enough  done  to  determine  how  large  the  ore  bodies  are,  but 
they  are  numerous  and  the  prospects  obtained  from  most  of  them  are 
good.  There  is  still  a  very  large  area  in  those  two  districts  unde- 
veloped. 

There  is  room  for  a  good  many  mines  such  as  ours,  which  is  the 
Golden  Reward  Mining  Company's  property,  consisting  of  over  fifty 
miles  of  underground  workings.  About  two-thirds  of  this  mileage 
being  on  ore  channels  while  the  other  third  is  cross  cutting.  After 
following  some  of  these  ore  bodies  close  onto  three  miles  we  find  them 
still  continuous. 

That  in  itself  should  be  very  encouraging  to  the  people  who  wish 
to  try  to  make  their  fortunes  in  this  district. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Any  of  these  matters  are  now  open 
for  discussion. 

MR.  LYNCH,  OF  MONTANA:  My  understanding  in  the  early 
proceedings  this  morning  was  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
would  meet  at  11  o'clock.  As  it  is  now  past  that  time,  I  move  you 
that  we  now  adjourn  so  that  this  Committee  may  go  to  work.  They 
have  important  matters  to  consider  to  be  afterwards  presented  to  this 
body  for  its  consideration,  and  I  move  that  we  now  adjourn  until  two 
o'clock  this  afternoon. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Program  Committee  have  ar- 
ranged that  we  be  here  at  1:30  so  I  make  the  suggestion  at  this  time 
that  we  ought  to  meet  at  1:30  if  it  is  agreeable  to  you. 

M!R.  LYNCH,  OF  MONTANA:  I  accept  the  suggestion  and  make 
that  amendment  to  my  motion. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried  and  Congress 
adjourned  to  September  9,  1903,  at  1:30  P.  M.,  at  Lead,  South  Dakota. 

Lead,  South  Dakota,  September  9,  1903,  1:30  P.  M. 
PRESIDENT   RICHARDS:     Congress  will  be  in  order. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  first  on  the  program  is  an 
address  of  welcome  by  the  mayor  of  Lead,  Hon.  E.  F.  Irwin: 

HON.  E.  F.  IRWIN:  Mr.  President,  Members  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  It  is  a  rare  privilege  for 
the  city  of  Lead  to  welcome  such  an  assemblage  of  mining  represent- 
atives to  our  city,  and  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  not  the  gift  of  eloquence 
to  tell  you  so  in  words,  as  we  feel  it  in  our  hearts. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  63 

Yesterday  we  were  welcomed  into  our  commonweilth  by  our 
honorable  governor,  Charles  N.  Herreid.  You  were  also  welcomed 
into  the  gate  city  of  the  Black  Hills  by  our  genial  and  esteemed 
neighbor,  Mayor  McDonald,  of  Deadwood,  both  welcomes  being  clothed 
in  beautiful  language.  Here  you  are  welcomed  as  the  weary  and  foot 
sore  prospector,  entering  a  new  Eldorado,  is  received  at  the  hands  of 
the  miner  at  the  door  of  his  hospitable  cabin,  when  he  says:  "Shake, 
pardner;  come  in  and  help  yourself,  everything  is  yours  as  long  as 
you  stay  here."  We  are  outside  of  the  general  line  of  travel  across 
the  continent.  We  are  a  little  world  all  by  ourselves  up  here.  Every 
man  is  at  peace  with  his  neighbor  and  all  work  for  the  common  good. 

We  recognize  the  value  to  us  here  as  mining  men  of  such  a 
gathering  as  this  and  we  know  that  while  you  are  learning  and 
exchanging  knowledge  among  yourselves  the  pleasure  is  ours  and  we 
are  glad  to  greet  you  here.  We  know  that  every  citizen  in  Lead  joins 
in  this  greeting.  When  I  tell  you  that  we  have  over  2,000  men  on  our 
pay  rolls  here  that  does  not  mean  just  the  mere  figures.  It  means  a 
large  city  of  contented  workingmen — men  drawing  the  best  wages 
anywhere  in  the  United  States;  men  who  are  just  as  much  interested 
in  seeing  continued  success  and  welfare  of  the  Homestake  as  if  they 
were  stockholders  of  the  same.  Men  who  own  the  homes  in  which 
thy  live;  men  who  have  grown  gray  and  old  in  the  service  of  this 
company  and  who  are  not  only  building  for  the  present  generation,  but 
for  that  to  come.  They  can  point  with  pride  to  over  $1,000,000  depos- 
ited in  the  local  banks  here  in  personal  deposits  and  also  to  one  of 
the  best  school  systems  in  the  state  of  South  Dakota. 

Governor  Herreid  said  yesterday  in  his  speech  that  the  great 
Homestake  mine  was  in  South  Dakota.  I  suppose  every  man  in 
Deadwood  has  told  you  tha,t  the  great  Homestake  mine  is  near 
Deadwood.  Now  you  are  right  over  that  mine.  You  are  surrounded 
by  the  buildings  of  this  great  company's  great  plant.  You  are  the 
guests  of  the  workingmen  of  that  company  represented  by  one  that 
never  missed  a  pay  day.  (Applause.)  The  Homestake,  as  you  know, 
is  the  greatest  gold  mine  in  the  world.  It  has  been  quarrying  out  the 
rocks  which  make  these  Hills  since  1877  continuously  and  never 
missing  a  monthly  dividend  in  the  twenty  six  years  of  its  existence, 
so  you  know  why  we  are  contented  and  prosperous  and  why  we  are 
satisfied  with  our  places  and  why  we  are  all  working  and  not  talking. 
The  relation  we  bear  to  Deadwood,  our  sister  city  down  the  gulch,  is 
somewhat  the  same  as  the  patient  Irishman  working  on  the  section 
bears  to  his  talkative  wife  at  home — we  do  the  work;  she  does  the 
talking.  Together  we  get  out  a  pretty  good  living  for  our  Black  Hills 
families.  (Laughter.)  One  is  just  as  necessary  as  the  other  for  our 
existence  here  in  the  Hills  and  woe  be  to  the  outsider  that  ever  makes 
any  criticism  on  either  side. 

This  Mining  Congress  has  been  called  together  for  your  mutual 
good,  but  we  expect  to  get  a  good  deal  of  good  out  of  it  ourselves. 
We  enjoy  having  you  here.  We  feel  that  this  meeting  will  be  a  benefit, 
not  only  to  Lead  and  Deadwood,  but  to  the  whole  Black  Hills,  and  I 
anticipate  that  tomorrow  we  will  have  an  influx  of  visitors  here  from 
local  camps  and  local  cities  around  here  that  will  astonish  you.  They 
will  all  come  up  to  enjoy  a  time  with  the  delegates  and  to  see  the 
great  Homestake  mine  and  to  know  what  the  American  Mining  Con- 
gress is  doing  for  the  country. 

I  might  present  you,  Mr.  President,  with  the  Golden  keys  to  a 
golden  city,  but  with  true  western  hospitality,  our  doors  are  never 
locked.  The  latch  string  is  always  on  the  outside  and  you  have  only 
to  lift  the  latch  and  walk  in — always  assured  of  a  miner's  hearty 
welcome.  (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  program  committee  has  again 
selected  me  to  respond  to  this  address  of  welcome. 

It  is  a  peculiar  privilege  to  respond  at  this  time  and  in  this  par- 
ticular place  for  the  reason  that  I  see  here  that  this  city  is  in  the 


64  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

lead  in  establishing  the  homes  for  miners,  a  thing  that  is  not  done  in 
all  the  camps  of  this  great  west.  Here  you  find  that  the  miner  seems 
to  be  contented.  He  has  a  home  and  he  will  defend  that  home  and 
he  will  make  and  see  that  the  laws  are  enforced  that  protect  that 
home.  Therefore,  it  has  had  much  to  do  in  the  state  of  South  Dakota 
in  establishing  good  citizenship  because  it  provides  that  home  life 
which  adds  stability  and  permanency  to  that  citizenship.  Also  for 
another  reason,  I  see  the  influences  of  this  great  Homestake  in  the 
little  kindergarten — the  most  beautiful  picture  that  I  saw  in  this 
beautiful  city  on  my  visit  here  in  May — maintained  by  a  stockholder  of 
that  great  corporation,  influencing  those  little  children  to  a  higher 
citizenship  and  to  a  conception  of  what  life's  duties  mean.  I  feel 
this  influence  again  in  the  free  library,  again  awakening  and  stimulat- 
ing the  youth  to  a  higher  citizenship.  You  cannot  tell  how  far  the 
influence  of  the  Homestake  in  those  particulars  may  radiate  out  into 
this  great  country. 

Again,  I  see  for  another  reason,  that  this  great  mine  has  estab- 
lished a  permanency  and  a  stability  in  mining  of  low  grade  ores  that 
has  not  been  equaled  anywhere  in  our  nation.  It  has  given  the  miner 
confidence  in  the  future  of  these  great  mountains.  It  has  given  capital 
confidence  in  the  permanency  and  in  the  stability  of  mining  and  it  has 
been  the  cause  of  investment  of  millions  of  dollars  in  mining,  and  by 
reason  of  its  permanency  and  stability  the  .mining  world  and  investing 
world  today  are  seeking  for  similar  bodies  of  permanent  ores  in  this 
great  Rocky  Mountain  region.  It  has  been  the  means  of  stimulating 
the  great  development  of  the  great  west  and  I  hope  that  this  Mining 
Congress  will  add  its  influence  to  the  Homestake  influence  in  helping 
the  west  to  develop  along  western  lines.  (Applause.) 

We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  east;  we  would  do  nothing  for  them 
but  good,  but  we  have  dissimilar  conditions  out  here  and  we  have  a 
right  to  insist  that  our  home  life,  our  business  life  and  industrial 
development  shall  be  in  harmony  with  the  conditions  that  surround  us 
here.  That  is  what  we  want  and  that  is  the  great  influence  this  Mining 
Congress  must  add  to  the  influence  of  this  Homestake.  We  scarcely 
know  what  the  mighty  development  of  this  great  Pacific  means  to  this 
Northwest.  When  you  see  what  influence  this  development  may  have 
out  beyond  the  Golden  Gate,  on  the  bosom  of  the  Great  Pacific,  in 
the  islands  of  the  sea,  the  Orient  and  Alaska  with  its  gold,  coal  and  oil 
and  its  development,  you  will  find  the  influence  of  the  Homestake 
reaches  out  in  stability  and  permanency  and  it  will  result  in  bringing 
from  these  great  mountains  giants  of  men  and  women  that  will  add  a 
true  and  lasting  wealth  to  this  nation  and  will  be  its  highest  glory. 
(Applause.)  We  know  that  it  will  not  be  long  and  you  and  I  have  no 
idea  of  the  development  that  will  take  place  between  here  and  the 
Orient  in  the  next  fifty  years,  but  it  must  have  men  coming  up  able 
to  meet  that  development  and  guide  it  along  the  paths  of  wisdom. 
You  will  find  these  men  will  come  up  from  this  western  coast;  they 
will  spring  up  from  these  little  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead  and  other 
cities  of  this  great  west.  They  are  assisting  in  the  development  of  its 
mighty  water  powers  bringing  light  and  comfort  to  every  home.  We 
can  scarcely  tell  what  the  mighty  development  will  be,  but  underlying 
all  this  material  development  is  but  a  step  and  means  to  an  end.  We 
want  this  Mining  Congress  to  extend  the  influence  on  the  youth  as  the 
Homestake  is  doing  through  its  kindergarten  and  its  library  and  have 
this  Congress  filled  with  men  that  stand  for  something  in  this  nation. 
They  are  the  true  and  lasting  wealth  that  comes  out  of  this  material 
development  and  I  say  that  this  great  Homestake,  over  which  you 
rest  at  this  moment,  has  had  an  influence  in  this  development  that  is 
going  to  reach  out  farther  and  farther  and  we  have  nothing  to  express 
higher  than  our  gratitude  at  this  hour  that  we  have  the  permission 
to  respond  to  this  generous  welcome.  (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  The  next  on  the  program  is  an  address 
by  Hon.  George  P.  Rogers,  Director  of  the  Mint,  on  the  subject  of 
"The  Supply  of  Gold." 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  65 

HON.  GEORGE  P.  ROGERS:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men: I  have  deeply  appreciated  this  invitation  from  the  representa- 
tives of  one  of  the  great  productive  industries  of  the  country,  but  I 
have  not  expected  to  occupy  your  time  very  long.  I  had  some  feeling 
of  alarm  wh'en  I  discovered  how  short  the  program  was  this  morning 
but  a  corresponding  feeling  of  relief  when  it  was  consolidated  with 
this  afternoon.  I  know  just  about  enough  of  mining  to  know  that  if 
1  should  undertake  to  talk  very  long  about  it  the  tailings  would  run 
pretty  poor.  (Laughter.) 

I  am  here,  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  here  yesterday,  in 
recognition  of  the  importance  of  the  mining  industry  and  of  the 
character  of  the  men  who  compose  this  organization.  As  I  came 
through  my  own  state  of  Iowa  on  my  way  out  here  I  found  everybody 
in  a  state  of  suspense  about  the  corn  crop,  and  it  occurred  to  me  then 
that  it  was  a  good  thing  we  did  not  have  all  our  eggs  in  one  basket, 
even  though  it  was  as  good  and  generous  a  basket  as  the  grand  old 
state  of  Iowa.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  one  crop  that  cannot  be  cut 
short  by  frost  or  eaten  by  bugs. 

I  am  interested  in  your  proceedings  and  especially  interested  in 
everything  that  pertains  to  the  production  of  the  King  of  Metals,  to 
which  all  the  mints  of  the  world  are  still  open  and  upon  which  the 
commerce  and  currency  and  finance  of  the  world  depend — gold.  I  am 
here  as  a  customer  for  all  you  can  produce  and,  fortunately,  we  can 
take  all  you  can  produce  without  impoverishing  the  treasury,  and  there 
is  no  magic  about  it  either.  (Applause.)  There  is  no  magic  about  it, 
for  while  the  form  of  the  transaction  is  that  of  a  purchase,  the  govern- 
ment really  acquires  no  metal  and  makes  no  investment.  It  receives 
the  bullion,  converts  it  into  convenient  form  for  use  in  the  business 
world  and,  in  effect  if  not  directly,  returns  it  to  the  producer.  What 
you  really  get  for  your  bullion  is  its  exchange  value  in  the  commodi- 
ties of  the  world.  It  is  a  very  fascinating  subject,  this  quest  for  the 
precious  metals  that  has  been  going  on  since  the  beginning  of  recorded 
history;  the  development  of  commerce  and  of  a  common  medium  of 
exchange;  the  evolution,  or  if  you  please,  the  tattle  of  the  standards 
and  the  influence  of  the  money  supply  upon  the  commerce,  industry 
and  civilization  of  the  world.  I  suppose  one  could  find  as  many 
varieties  of  opinion  here  upon  that  subject  as  he  could  get  in  a  theo- 
logical conference  by  introducing  the  subject  of  eternal  punishment. 
We  have  threshed  the  subject  pretty  well  over  in  this  country  in  recent 
years.  We  ought  to  know  more  about  it  than  c.ny  other  people  in  the 
world.  I  suppose  we  know  more  about  the  seigniorage  and  the  per 
capita  than  any  other  people  on  earth.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the 
American  people  have  always  taken  a  very  lively  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject of  money.  We  begin  at  an  early  age.  Down  in  Philadelphia  they 
tell  the  story  of  a  school  teacher  who  put  this  question  to  his  class: 
"What  grand  old  building  is  there  in  this  city,  the  very  sight  of  which 
is  enough  to  quicken  the  pulse  and  stir  the  blood  of  every  patriotic 
American?"  And  there  was  a  pause,  and  then  in  a  moment  a  boy's 
hand  went  up  and  the  answer  came  back,  "The  Mint."  (Laughter  and 
applause.) 

This  much  may  be  said  now  in  justice  to  the  sincerity  and  the 
intelligence  of  the  disputants  in  the  great  debate  over  bimetalism,  now 
apparently  brought  to  a  close;  that  the  lapse  of  time  has  simplified 
and  made  things  that  thirty  years  ago  were  fairly  subjects  of  doubt. 

Thirty  years  ago  the  production  of  gold  in  the  world  was  on  a 
declining  scale  and  twenty  years  ago  it  was  at  a  low  ebb.  The 
output  of  gold  in  the  world  in  the  ten  years  from  1850  to  1860  aver- 
aged about  $132.000,000  a  year.  In  the  ten  years  from  1860  to  1870, 
about  $125,000,000  a  year;  in  the  ten  years  from  1870  to  1880,  about 
$115.000,000  a  year,  and  in  the  five  years  from  1880  to  1885  it  dropped 
to  about  $100,000,000  a  year.  This  steady  decline  in  the  output  of 
gold  caused  many  intelligent  observers,  statesmen  and  economists 
to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  the  movement  for  the  demonetization  of 
silver.  The  movement  of  the  principal  commercial  countries  of 


(56  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

the  world  to  a  common  standard  of  value  was  an  evolutionary  one, 
it  was  as  natural  as  the  tendencies  of  the  people  who  have  intimate 
trade  relations  and  intercourse  with  each  other  to  use  a  common 
language.  It  was  the  natural  result  of  the  improved  facilities  of 
communication,  of  the  invention  of  the  steamship,  the  'railway  and 
the  electric  cable,  but  this  decline  in  the  output  of  gold  covering  a 
period  of  years  presented  a  very  serious  problem.  About  that  time 
some  of  the  most  eminent  geologists  in  the  world  presented  exhaus- 
tive arguments  to  prove  that  no  reliance  could  be  placed  upon  future 
gold  supplies.  They  argued  that  gold  had  always  been  found  near 
the  surface,  that  there  had  been  no  considerable  production  up 
to  that  time  from  deep  mines,  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  output 
was  from  placers.  They  argued  that  the  world  had  been  pretty 
thoroughly  explored  and  that  no  extensive  discoveries  were  probable 
in  the  future.  That  was  the  basis  of  the  argument  for  international 
bimettalism.  I  was  a  believer  in  it  then  and  I  believe  today  that 
if  it  had  been  necessary  it  would  eventually  have  been  accomplished. 
The  subject  got  into  politics  and  overstayed  its  time.  While  the 
world  was  debating  whether  or  not  there  was  gold  enough  for  a 
universal  standard  of  value,  somebody  went  out  and  dug  up  enough 
to  put  an  end  to  the  discussion.  So  late  as  1890  the  production  of 
gold  in  the  United  States  was  only  about  $33,000,000  a  year;  last  year 
it  was  $80,000,000.  In  1890  the  output  in  Australia  was  about  $33.- 
000,000;  last  year  it  was  $82,000,000.  In  1890  in  Canada  it  was 
$1,600,000;  last  year  it  was  $20,000,000.  In  1890  in  South  Africa  the 
output  was  $8,000,000;  at  outbreak  of  the  Boer  war  it  was  at  the  rate 
of  $100,000,000.  In  1890  the  production  of  gold  in  the  world  was 
only  about  $118,000,000.  Next  year  with  South  Africa  back  to  her  old 
output  the  production  of  the  world  will  probably  reach  $350,000,000. 
Prof.  Shaler  of  Harvard  has  been  quoted  as  saying  that  gold 
would  eventually  become  so  cheap  that  the  world  would  have  to 
demonetize  it.  I  am  not  anticipating,  however,  that  the  responsibility 
of  recommending  it  will  fall  upon  me.  The  idea  that  the  world 
may  suffer  from  a  flood  of  money  is  not  one  calculated  to  excite 
any  very  general  or  intense  state  of  alarm.  Most  of  us  have  never 
been  over  our  knees  in  that  kind  of  a  flood  and  the  average  man, 
I  fancy,  would  want  it  about  chin  deep  before  he  cried  enough. 
(Laughter  and  Applause.) 

There  is,  however,  no  more  interesting  subject  of  inquiry  and 
speculation  than  the  probable  effect  of  this  new  golden  stream 
upon  the  markets,  upon  wages  and  upon  the  varied  relations  of  in- 
dividuals and  classes  and  upon  the  social  life  of  the  people.  In  so 
far  as  an  increased  money  supply  and  the  expansion  of  credits  that 
always  accompanies  it  goes  to  support  growing  industries  and  to 
promote  the  orderly  and  natural  development  of  the  world's  re- 
sources it  is  a  good  thing.  Whatever  stimulates  enterprise  helps 
to  take  up  the  industrial  slack.  But  of  course  there  is  a  point, 
if  you  conceive  of  its  ever  being  reached,  when  every  man  is  at 
work,  when  all  the  productive  forces  of  society  are  already  in  full 
action,  when  you  cannot  .make  the  world  richer  by  pouring  money 
into  it. 

If  the  point  is  reached  where  every  addition  simply  means 
dilution,  where  the  new  supplies  only  find  employment  by  increasing 
the  value  of  the  old  stock,  then  you  have  a  condition  where  all  the 
relations  based  upon  terms  of  money  are  disturbed,  where  specu- 
lation instead  of  industry  is  promoted,  where  adventure  and  eco- 
nomic waste  run  rife  and  it  all  ends  in  a  general  disaster. 

There  have  never  been  but  two  periods  in  the  history  of  money 
metals  that  afford  any  comparison  with  the,  present.  One  of  them 
is  the  period  following  the  discovery  of  gold  in  America,  and  that 
is  so  far  back  and  the  conditions  of  society  were  so  radically  dif- 
ferent from  those  existing  today  that  any  conclusions  drawn  there- 
from must  be  of  the  most  general  character.  The  other  is  the  period 
following  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  and  Australia.  At  the 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  67 

time  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  America  the  supply  of  the  precious 
metals  in  the  world  was  exceedingly  scanty.  Whatever  the  civilized 
countries  held  at  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  appar- 
ently scattered  and  dissipated  by  the  barbarians  and  utterly  lost. 
In  the  long  centuries  of  disorder  that  followed  the  downfall  of  Rome 
the  working  of  the  mines  was  practically  abandoned,  commerce  was 
dead,  the  feudal  lords  received  tribute  in  kind  and  the  common 
method  of  exchange  was  barter.  It  has  been  estimated  that  at  the 
time  of  the  discovery  of  America  the  output  of  both  metals,  gold 
and  silver,  in  the  world  did  not  exceed  $500,000  a  year.  During  the 
first  thirty  years  after  the  discovery  of  America  the  receipts  of  bul- 
lion in  Europe  from  both  Americas  averaged  about  $250,000  a  year. 
For  the  next  twenty-five  years,  from  about  1520  to  1545,  the  receipts 
averaged  about  $3,000,000  a  year,  and  in  1546  the  rich  discoveries  of 
silver  in  Peru  raised  the  output  to  about  $10,000,000  a  year  and  it 
never  afterwards  felt  below  that.  Now  that  was  an  output  that  in 
its  relation  to  the  old  supply  could  fairly  be  called  a  flood.  Its  first 
effect  was  demoralizing  upon  society.  The  organization  of  industry 
at  that  time  was  not  elastic  enough  to  permit  of  its  being  absorbed. 
In  fact,  the  countries  of  Europe  at  that  time  were  not  organized 
for  industry;  they  were  organized  for  war;  the  common  occupation 
of  mankind  was  war,  ambition  and  fanaticism  kept  Europe  embroiled 
in  constant  strife  and  the  treasures  that  America  poured  into  Spain 
simply  went  to  fill  the  war  chests  of  Philip  II  for  his  campaign  in 
the  Netherlands  and  to  build  the  great  Armada.  It  has  been  said 
by  an  eminent  economist  that  it  took  the  people  of  Europe  300  years 
to  learn  that  the  ture  use  far  the  precious  metals  was  to  support 
industry  rather  than  war.  It  has  been  estimated  that  in  the  150 
years  from  1500  to  1650  the  average  depreciation  of  the  precious 
metals  was  about  two-thirds  of  their  value.  That  is,  that  in  1650  a 
given  amount  of  gold  or  silver  would  buy  only  about  one- third 
as  .much  as  in  1500.  Naturally,  extreme  confusion  was  the  result. 
There  was  great  suffering  among  people  who  worked  for  wages 
or  whose  income  was  a  fixed  one.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
quarrel  between  Charles  I  and  his  parliament  was  promoted  by  the 
declining  value  of  the  money  in  which  the  revenues  were  paid  and 
some  historians  have  held  that  it  was  the  deadly  money  question, 
the  bane  of  politicians  in  all  ages,  that  cost  him  his  head. 

In  the  200  years  from  about  1600  to  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  output  of  the  precious  metals,  principally  silver 
from  the  Americas,  gradually  increased  until  at  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century  it  averaged  about  $40,000,000  a  year.  This 
was  principally  silver,  and  the  monetary  systems  of  Europe  all  became 
established  at  that  time  upon  silver.  In  1820  gold  was  discovered 
in  the  Russian  possessions  in  the  Ural  mountains  and  in  Siberia 
and  in  1848  that  empire  was  producing  about  $20,000,000  a  year. 
In  1848  came  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  and  in  1853  in 
Australia  and  the  output  of  those  two  countries  immediately  jumped 
to  about  $100,000,000  a  year,  and  then  began  one  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary periods  in  the  history  of  the  world's  development.  The 
first  sign  of  the  new  influx  was  seen  in  the  holdings  of  the  Bank  of 
England,  which  went  up  from  about  $40,000,000  in  1847  to  $118,000,000 
in  1853.  The  bank  put  down  the  rate  of  interest,  in  order  to  get 
the  money  into  use,  to  2  per  cent  and  for  a  considerable  time  to  1% 
per  cent  and  so  general  was  the  opinion  that  the  new  supplies  had 
permanently  reduced  the  rate  of  interest  that  Mr.  Gladstone,  who 
was  then  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  offered  a  measure  reducing 
the  rate  or  providing  for  the  refunding  of  the  consols  at  2y2'  per 
cent  and  the  rate  of  exchequer  bills  was  fixed  at  1^  per  cent. 

But  the  idea  that  the  rate  of  interest  is  permanently  reduced 
by  an  additional  supply  of  money  is  an  error.  Interest  is  a  pay- 
ment in  kind.  It  is  a  percentage  of  the  thing  borrowed,  and  if 
the  principal  suffers  depreciation  in  comparison  with  other  com- 
modities the  interest  payment  suffers  the  same  depreciation  with- 


68  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

out  any  reduction  in  rent.     The  interest  rate  depends  upon  the  supply 
of   cash    capital    compared    with    the    demand    lor    it;    it    depends    in 
large  measure  upon  the  opportunities  for  investment  and  in  a  large 
degree  upon  the  confidence,  courage  and  enterprise  prevailing  in  the 
community.  Secretary  Shaw  coined  a  new  phrase  and  a  very  happy  one 
in  Chicago   the  other   day   when   speaking   of  our   present  period   of 
prosperity.     He  said  that  if  there  was  any  reason  for  its  cession  or 
interruption  it  was  a   sociological   and   not  a  logical   reason,   and   so 
some  of    the    influences    that    effect  the  rate  of  interest  are  sociolo- 
gical   as    well    as    logical.      The    first    effect    of    an    increase    in    the 
money  supply  is   to  reduce  the  rate   of  interest.     The   supply   piles 
up  in  banks  and  the  banks  are  eager  to  get  it  into  use  and  reduce 
the  interest  rate  but  a  permanent  reduction  of  the  rate  of  interest 
iias  a  tendency  to  enhance  the  value  of  all   property  that  brings  a 
fixed  Teturn.     If  store  buildings   in  Lead   will   bring  15   per   cent  on 
the  investment  and  the  rate  of  interest  is  only  6  per  cent  or  8  per 
cent  the  store  buildings  will  go  up  in  value  or  there  will  be   more 
of  them  built.     If  Chicago  &  Northwestern  railway  stock  pays  regu- 
larly 8  per  cent  when  the  going  rate  of  interest  is  only  4  per  cent, 
Chicago   &   Northwestern   stock   will   raise   in   value,   or  there   would 
be  more  railroads  built  or  something  will  occur  to   bring  down  the 
rate   of   dividends.     A   permanent   reduction   in   the   rate   of   interest 
creates   a  boom   in   property,   stimulates   enterprise   and   construction 
and  the  creation  of  new  securities  until  the  new  supply  of  securities 
bears   down   the   price   of   property   and   raises    the   rate   of   interest. 
We  have   witnessed   a  demonstration   of  all   that   in   this   country   in 
the  last  five  years.     I  remember  when  the  rare  of  interest  on  the 
farm  mortgages   in   Iowa  was   reduced   to   5   per  cent  in   1897.     The 
effect  was  to   enhance  the  value  of  farm  lands   and   incidentally   to 
start  a  new  movement  of  immigration  toward  the  cheaper  lands  of 
Minnesota  and   the   Dakotas   and   even   over  into  Canada,   and   about 
ihe  same  time  a  very  general  movement  started  for  refunding  the 
obligations  of  railroad  companies  at  3y2  per  cent  to  4  per  cent  that 
previously  had  been  drawing  5  per  cent  to  7  per  cent  and  the  result 
of  that   was   an   extraordinary   period   of   construction   largely   of   re- 
construction until  nearly  all  the  railway  lines  of  the   country  have 
been    reconstructed.     When    these    trunk    lines   were    first  'built    the 
main    consideration    was   to    get   them   built    cheaply.      With    the    ac- 
cumulation  of   capital   and   a  reduction   in   the   rate   of   interest   the 
main  consideration  is  to  operate  them  cheaply  and  the  result  is  the 
general  reconstruction  that  has  been  going  on  in  the  last  few  years. 
The  extraordinary   movement   of  capital   however,   into   fixed   invest- 
ments has  gone  on  until  it  has  had  the  effect  of  increasing  the  amount 
of  indebtedness   in   proportion  to   cash   resources   until   it   has   again 
raised  the  rate  of  interest  and  reduced  the  value  of  railway  stocks 
and  other   fixed   investments.     The   people   however   who   fancy  that 
there  must  be  a  long  period  of  depression  to  follow  this  period  of 
expansion   are  very  likely  not  to   give   sufficient  importance  to   the 
annual    additions   to   the   money   supply.     With    some    $350,000,000    a 
year  added   to  the   monetary   stock   of  the   world   it    is    going  to   be 
pretty   difficult   to   depress    prices   very   long    or    suppress    enterprise 
very   long,   particularly   when   we  remember   that   with   the    modern 
banking   conditions   every   dollar   of   cash   capital   is   good   for   about 
four  dollars  of  credit. 

The  period  following  1850  in  Europe  witnessed  a  good  deal 
such  a  boom  as  we  have  seen  in  this  country  in  the  last  five  years 
and  there  was  a  very  general  discussion  as  to  the  ultimate  effect 
of  the  new  supplies  of  gold.  An  eminent  French  economist  named 
Chevalier  wrote  a  very  exhaustive  book  on  the  subject  in  which  he 
argued  that  if  the  output  continued  it  would  be  necessary  to  demone- 
tize gold.  Holland  and  Belgium  actually  took  action  to  that  end. 
Two  influences,  however,  appeared  to  minimize  the  effect  of  the 
new  supply.  The  first  was  the  war  in  the  Crimea,  between  Russia 
on  one  side  and  England,  France  and  Turkey  on  the  other.  France 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS  69 

and  Great  Britain  were  obliged  to  finance  the  war,  pay  the  expenses 
not  only  of  their  own  troops  to  Turkey  and  Russia  but  they  were 
obliged  to  ship  large  sums  of  specie  to  the  eastern  part  of  Europe 
and  that  money  was  scattered  there  and  never  came  back.  The 
other  influence  was  the  outflow  of  silver  from  Europe  to  India.  Prior 
to  1855  the  annual  exports  of  silver  from  Europe  to  India  averaged 
about  $] 0,000. 000  a  year.  About  1855  began  the  construction  of  the 
railway  system  of  India  and  immense  sums  of  British  capital  were 
transported  in  the  form  of  silver  to  India  for  that  purpose.  Then 
the  construction  of  the  railway  systems  assisted  the  transportation 
of  grain  to  the  sea  coast  and  so  increased  the  exports  of  India  that 
it  built  up  a  large  balance  of  trade  that  had  to  be  settled  in  silver. 
Prior  to  1855  the  average  exports  of  silver  to  India  had  been  about 
$10,000,000  a  year  and  in  1857  it  jumped  to  $100,000,000  and  that 
continued  for  the  next  ten  years.  It  has  been  estimated  by  some 
statisticians  that  in  those  ten  years  exports  of  silver  to  India  amounted 
to  75  per  cent  of  the  new  production  of  gold  and  silver,  the  silver 
taken  out  of  circulation  and  gold  substituted  for  it.  This  sluiceway 
for  silver  for  the  east  made  room  in  Europe  for  the  new  supplies 
of  gold.  So.  Mr.  Chevalier  had  an  opportunity  to  say  that  what  he 
had  predicted  would  have  come  true  if  something  had  not  happened, 
and  you  may  have  noticed  that  the  value  of  predictions  is  greatly 
impaired  by  the  fact  that  something  generally  does  happen.  But 
precisely  what  happened  then  is  certain  to  happen  in  the  future. 
The  times  were  never  so  favorable  for  the  development  of  the  hitherto 
backward  countries  as  they  are  today.  In  all  the  advanced  coun- 
tries, equipped  with  labor  saving  machinery,  the  production  and 
accumulation  of  wealth  is  going  on  at  a  rate  that  is  almost  incal- 
oulable.  Everywhere  in  all  these  countries  it  is  difficult  to  find  em- 
ployment or  investment,  for  the  savings  of  the  people.  This  fact 
is  the  impulse  behind  the  latter  day  effort  of  all  European  countries 
to  obtain  colonies.  It  is  to  find  new  and  profitable  fields  for  the 
investment  of  the  savings  of  the  people.  Some  of  the  richest  por- 
tions of  the  earth  up  to  this  time  have  remained  comparatively  un- 
touched and  are  ready  today  by  the  investment  of  capital  to  pour 
their  treasures  upon  the  world.  South  America,  Africa,  Asia  and 
Eastern  Europe  are  all  promising  fields  for  tho  investment  of  capital. 
Right  at  our  own  doors  we  have  an  example  in  the  case  of  Cuba. 
Cube  has  remained  for  four  hundred  years  an  object  lesson  of 
human  misery  and  industrial  waste.  By  the  intervention  of  the 
United  States  the  scene  is  changed.  With  security  for  capital,  with 
employment  for  labor,  with  education  and  justice  for  her  people, 
Cuba  is  to  become  one  of  the  garden  spots  of  the  world. 

Over  in  Egypt  we  have  just  had  an  illustration  of  what  the 
investment  of  capital  can  do  for  a  backward  people  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  great  dam  in  the  upper  Nile  at  an  expenditure  of 
millions  of  dollars.  It  is  expected  to  add  25  per  cent  to  the  agricul- 
tural products  of  Egypt.  In  India  there  is  a  further  example  of 
what  the  investment  of  capital  has  done  for  that  country.  No  native 
government  in  India  ever  did  anything  for  the  development  of  the 
country  or  for  the  amelioration  of  the  people.  No  prince  in  India 
ever  built  even  a  mile  of  wagon  road.  The  present  government 
has  built  some  25,000  miles  of  railway,  over  35,000  miles  of  irrigating 
canals  and  only  recently  it  has  been  announced  that  the  govern- 
ment is  prepared  to  expend  $150,000,000  in  further  irrigation  projects. 
The  exports  of  India  since  the  construction  of  its  railway  system 
began  have  risen  from  about  $80,000,000  a  year  to  $360,000,000  a 
year.  And  so  in  Japan,  in  China  and  in  the  Philippines  the  quick- 
ening influence  of  modern  enterprises  are  to  be  found.  In  these  days 
of  swift  and  easy  communication  when  commerce  has  brought  the 
most  distant  people  into  touch  with  civilization,  it  is  simply  impossible 
that  great,  areas  of  fertile  land  and  great  stores  of  natural  wealth 
should  go  on  unproductive.  This  continent  of  North  America  could 
not  always  remain  a  hunting  ground  and  battlefield  for  savages.  The 


70  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

development  of  these  new  countries  will  be  facilitated  by  a  plentitude 
of  money  and  the  development  of  the  new  supplies  of  the  precious 
metals. 

It  is  not  only  true  as  to  gold  but  there  is  hope  and  prospects 
for  silver.  The  fact  that  the  world  has  generally  adopted  the  gold 
standard  does  not  mean  that  it  has  discarded  silver  as  a  money 
metal.  There  is  a  natural  division  between  the  fields  and  the  functions 
of  the  two  metals  in  the  monetary  world.  Gold  is  the  natural  money 
for  the  international  trade,  for  large  transactions,  but  silver  is  the 
natural  money  everywhere  for  the  retail  trade.  If  I  could  have  my 
way  there  never  would  be  a  gold  coin  under  ten  dollars.  I  paid  out 
a  five  dollar  piece  for  a  newspaper  in  California  last  year  and  I 
have  been  against  the  five  dollar  piece  ever  since.  (Laughter.)  The 
development  of  all  these  backward  countries  to  which  I  have  referred 
will  involve  a  larger  market  for  silver.  A  country  where  the  wages 
of  the  people  are  small,  where  they  do  not  get  over  three  or  four 
dollars  a  month,  has  little  use  for  gold  as  a  common  medium  of 
exchange.  We  began  buying  silver  for  the  Philippine  Islands  in 
April  at  49  cents  an  ounce.  We  paid  last  week  58^  cents  an  ounce. 
I  would  not  advise  anybody  to  go  and  buy  a  silver  mine  on  the 
strength  of  my  opinion  upon  it  but  I  do  believe  that  silver  has  seen  its 
worst  days  and  that  it  may  be  expected  to  have  a  fairly  stable 
value  in  the  future.  (Applause.) 

The  United  States  as  you  know  is  one  of  the  three  great 
gold  producing  countries  in  the  world  and  yet  in  the  last  five  years 
it  has  attracted  and  held  a  good  deal  more  than  its  own  output. 
The  entire  output  of  Canada,  of  M/exico  and  a  large  share  of  Aus- 
tralia comes  to  the  mints  of  the  United  States.  It  has  llowed  into 
the  treasury  until  we  can  hardly  shut  the  vault  doors.  The  treasury 
of  the  United  States  holds  today  the  greatest  hoard  of  gol.l  that 
ever  was  gathered  together  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  has  but- 
tressed our  monetary  system  with  the  strength  of  Gibralter.  It  is 
the  guaranty  of  the  parity  of  every  dollar  of  our  money,  of  the  dis- 
charge of  every  obligation  that  the  government  may  have. 

Before  I  close  I  want  to  express  my  thanks  to  the  mining  fra- 
ternity generally  for  the  courtesy  and  the  ready  response  that  they 
have  always  given  to  the  bureau  over  which  I  have  the  honor  to 
preside  in  its  inquiry  as  to  the  annual  production  of  the  precious 
metals.  I  might  say  further  that  I  am  awaro  that  there  has  been 
more  or  less  criticism  from  time  to  time  upon  the  estimates  that 
are  made  by  the  bureau.  We  are  never  quite  able  to  get  up  to  the 
enthusiastic  estimates  that  the  mining  fraternity  put  upon  their  own 
districts.  We  figure  that  all  the  gold  that  is  produced  in  this  counrty 
must  go  to  three  uses.  It  either  goes  to  the  mints  for  coinage,  or 
it  enters  into  industrial  uses  or  it  is  exported  from  the  country. 
You  cannot  fool  us  very  much  on  what  comes  to  the  mints.  We 
are  in  touch  with  all  the  refineries,  smelters  and  reduction  works 
of  the  country  and  they  very  kindly  furnish  us  with  a  statement  of 
what  they  furnish  for  the  industrial  arts,  lad  not  relying  wholly 
upon  that  we  conduct  an  inquiry  by  means  of  some  20,000  circular 
letters  every  year,  addressed  to  the  manufacturing  jewelers  and 
other  people  in  the  country  who  use  gold  and  biiver  in  the  industrial 
lines.  We  get  the  exports  of  gold  and  silver  from  the  custom  houses 
and  have  reason  to  rely  upon  them.  In  compiling  our  estimates 
of  the  output  of  gold  in  the  several  districts  in  the  whole  country 
we  figure  that  we  must  hold  the  total  down  to  the  actual  disposition 
as  we  find  it,  and  we  distribute  it  among  the  states  according  to 
the  information  we  get  from  the  various  reduction  works,  smelters, 
refineries,  etc.  If  the  criticisms  that  our  estimates  were  too  low  came 
from  only  one  district  we  might  think  something  of  it  but  when 
the  criticism  comes  from  all  districts  and  we  cannot  find  out  where 
the  product  has  gone  to  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  our  figures 
are  probably  about  right.  It  is  of  the  highest  importance,  of  course, 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  71 

that  the  statistics  should  be  as  nearly  accurate  as  they  can  be 
made  and  while  it  is  Impossible  to  get  them  absolutely  so,  we  believe 
that  they  are  approximately  correct. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  desire  to  thank  you  again  for  your  invitation, 
for  your  courtesy  in  listening  and  to  express  the  pleasure  I  have 
felt  in  coming  into  this  great  mining  district  of  the  West,  in  being 
a  witness  to  the  amount  of  labor,  of  patience,  of  scientific  skill  and 
cf  capital  that,  has  combined  to  furnish  us  the  output  that  comes 
from  these  Hills. 

Gentlemen,  again  I  thank  you.     (Prolonged  applause.) 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  Chairman,  in  har- 
mony with  Director  Roberts'  remarks  and  also  in  harmony  with 
the  declaration  of  the  constitution  of  our  organization  which  is  said 
to  be  organized  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  the  .mining  industries 
of  this  country,  I  desire  to  offer  a  short  resolution. 

The  resolution  referred  to  was  read  by  Secretary  Mahon  and  by 
the  president  referred  to  the  committee  on  resolutions. 

MR.  GUSHURST,  OF  LEAD:  I  am  sure  I  express  the  sen- 
timent of  every  person  within  this  hall  when  I  say  that  we  were 
delighted  at  the  very  able  and  interesting  speech  which  we  have  just 
heard  by  Mr.  Roberts  and  therefore  I  move  you,  Mr.  President,  that 
a  rising  vote  of  thanks  be  tendered  to  Mr.  Roberts,  not  only  for  his 
presence  with  us  here  today,  but  also  for  the  very  interesting  speech 
that  he  has  given  us. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  unanimously  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  next  on  our  program  is  a  paper 
by  Dr.  F.  R.  Carpenter,  of  Denver,  Colorado,  on  pyritic  smelting.  As 
Dr.  Carpenter  is  not  present  to  read  the  paper,  it  will  be  submitted 
to  the  secretary  for  printing. 

PYRITIC  SMELTING. 

A  paper  prepared  by  Dr.  Carpenter  for  the  American  Mining 
Congress. 

This  is  a  process  of  smelting  applicable  to  any  raw  ores  not 
carrying  lead,  but  more  especially  to  sulphide  ores  carrying  copper. 

From  time  immemorial  man  has  roasted  off  the  sulphur  in  pyrite 
ores  and  burned  his  iron  to  oxide  in  the  open  air,  thus  wasting  what 
pyritic  smelters  consider  good  fuel.  If  it  is  admitted  that  a  heat 
unit  derived  from  the  oxidation  of  iron  or  sulphur  will  do  as  much 
work  as  one  derived  from  oxidation  of  coke,  the  folly  of  this  pro- 
ceeding becomes  apparent,  provided  this  heat  can  be  utilized.  If 
it  can,  one  might  just  as  well  waste  his  coke  in  a  similar  manner. 

American  engineers  derived  from  Europe  two  raw  smelting  pro- 
cesses, which,  unfortunately,  are  often  confused.  One  was  the 
Kongsberg  process  of  pyritic  smelting,  where  raw  pyrite  was  added 
to  the  charge  simply  to  produce  a  carrier,  or  matte,  for  the  precious 
metals.  This  was  all  I  had  in  view  when  I  advocated  pyritic  smelting 
for  the  siliceous  ores  of  South  Dakota.  By  its  means  the  small 
amounts  of  gold  and  silver  in  many  tons  of  rock  were  concentrated 
into  a  few  tons  of  matte.  This  process,  broadly,  is  very  ancient 
— so  ancient  that  we  know  not  when  it  was  i;rst  employed.  It  will 
be  observed  later  that  it  is  the  very  opposite  of  the  other  class  of 
pyritic  smelting,  in  that  the  ores  treated  are  silicious,  and  pyrite  is 
added  for  a  carrier  only. 

The  other  sort  of  pyr'te  smelting  is  the  outgrowth  of  principles 
discovered  by  Sir  Henry  Bessemer  in  steel  making,  who  found  that 
cast  iron  might  be  purified  by  the  oxidation,  or  burning,  of  its  own 
contained  impurities.  The  principles  of  Bessemer,  much  modified, 
are  now  everywhere  applied  to  the  refining  of  copper  matte,  where 
again  the  oxidation  of  the  iron  and  sulphur  furnish  the  heat  to  burn 
and  slag  off  impurities,  giving  us  a  very  pure  blister  copper  at  one 


72  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

direct  cheap  operation,  and  without  additional  fuel.  This  is  the 
beautiful  operation  of  Mahnes,  first  employed  in  America  by  our 
Butte  friends. 

After  the  establishment  of  Bessemer's  process  in  England,  Holl- 
way  sought  to  smelt  the  Rio  Tinto  copper  sulphide  ores  by  means 
of  the  heat  generated  in  the  oxidation  of  their  sulphur  and  iron.  A 
short  calculation  will  show  that  his  conclusions  were  well  founded. 
Without  going  into  the  investigation  very  fully,  we  may  admit  that 
one  pound  of  iron  pyrite  burned  in  the  furnace  is  equal  to  2.026  B. 
T.  U.,  and  that  this,  roughly,  is  equal  to  40  per  cent  of  the  value  of 
a  pound  of  carbon  burned  to  CO;  but  as  our  furnaces  probably 
burn  perhaps  a  third  of  the  carbon  to  CO2,  we  may  conclude  that 
this  value  is  too  nigh,  hence  figure  it  as  equal  to  only  26  per  cent, 
or  one-fourth  of  the  value  of  one  pound  of  coke,  which  is  certainly  a 
safe  deduction. 

Those  who  are  interested  in  the  subject  are  referred  to  the 
forthcoming  volume  of  the  Mineral  Industry,  where  Mr.  E.  C.  Rey- 
bold,  Jr.:  a  young  man  employed  at  our  Golden  Works  and  formerly 
with  me  at  Deadwood,  has  fully  investigated  the  subject. 

For  every  four  pounds  of  pyrite,  therefore,  burned  in  the  open 
air,  we  have  lost  the  equivalent  of  one  pound  of  good  coke.  Stated 
in  another  way,  four  pounds  of  pyrite  will  do  as  much  smelting  as 
one  pound  of  coke,  and  in  so  doing,  it  is  smelted  and  fluxed  itself. 

Our  blast  furnaces,  in  ordinary  matte  smelting,  are  running  with 
16  per  cent  coke,  but  a  charge  containing  64  per  cent  of  -raw  pyrite 
should  smelt  itself;  and  if  this  is  assisted  with  a  hot  air  stove,  which 
can  be  fired  with  a  cheap  low-grade  fuel,  even  this  percentage  of  pyrite 
may  be  much  reduced.  The  fullest  application  of  these  Drinciples 
has  been  made  by  Dr.  Robert  Steicht,  of  Mount  Lyell  in  Tasmania, 
where  the  first  smelting  is  done  absolutely  without  carbonaceous  fuel 
of  any  sort.  Let  us  now  consider  for  a  moment  what  they  do. — 
Their  ores  are  pyritic,  and  of  two  classes.  The  Mount  Lyell  pyrite 
is  so  mined  as  to  maintain  a  general  average  as  follows: 

Fe    40.30  per  cent. 

Si   O2    4.42  per  cent. 

Ba  SO4   1.48  per  cent. 

Cu    2.36  per  cent. 

Al    2O3   2.04  per  cent. 

S     46.01  per  cent. 

Ag    2  oz.  per  ton. 

Au    0.0725  oz.  per  ton. 

The  second  class  is  a  silicious  bornite  ore  purchased  from  other 
mines,  and  quartz  is  employed  as  a  flux.  This  is  the  direct  opposite 
of  the  case  first  considered,  calling  for  additions  to  silica  in  the  place 
of  additions  of  pyrite. 

The  Mount  Lyell  company  operates  eleven  blast  furnaces  which 
are  arranged  in  two  smelting  plants.  Those  employed  in  the  first 
smelting  are  five  in  number,  and  are  42  by  210  inches  at  the  tuyeres. 
The  height  of  the  ore  column  above  the  tuyeres  is  maintained  at  9 
feet  6  inches.  The  other  plant  consists  of  six  furnaces,  five  of  which 
are  40  by  168  inches  at  the  tuyeres.  The  tuyeres  are  all  three  inches 
in  diameter,  and  the  larger  furnaces  have  32  each.  In  the  first  set 
of  furnaces  all  the  ore  delivered  at  the  plant  is  smelted  without 
roasting  and  without  fuel,  to  a  first  matte  carrying  15  per  cent 
copper.  Formerly  a  hot  blast,  528  degrees,  and  3  per  cent  coke  was 
used.  But  for  a  year  past  the  coke  has  been  abandoned  and  the  blast 
only  warmed.  No  difference  was  noticed  in  this  change  save  a  greatly 
increased  capacity — three  furnaces  now  doing  the  work  of  four  under 
the  old  method. 

The  matte  from  this  first  smelting  is  re-smelted  in  the  second 
set  of  furnaces  to  a  45  to  50  per  cent  copper  matte,  which  goes 
directly  to  the  converters. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  73 

The  process  is,  therefore,  divided  into  three  stages,  all  of  which 
are  oxidizing,  and  which  may  be  said  to  be  almost  continuous  Bes- 
semerizing  from  beginning  to  end.  Disregarding  the  time  for  cooling 
and  transportation  from  one  department  to  another,  the  time  con- 
sumed from  ore  to  copper  is  noly  six  hours,  and  this  is  accomplished 
almost  without  extraneous  fuel. 

In  the  first  smelting  no  limestone  or  coke  is  used,  and  but  a 
slightly  warmed  blast.  In  the  second  smelting  a  small  percentage 
of  coke  and  limestone  is  used,  and  a  cold  blast.  The  third  stage 
is  simply  Bessemerizing  or  converter  work. 

These  results  having  been  attained  at  Mount  Lyell  by  the  ap- 
plication of  principles  long  advocated  by  pritic  smelters,  there  is 
no  longer  any  reason,  in  my  opinion,  why  the  same  or  similar  re- 
sults cannot  be  had  at  Sudbury,  Ontario;  Ducktown,  Tenn.;  Kes- 
wick,  Cal.,  and  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico — in  fact  at  any  place 
where  the  ores  carry  sufficient  pyrite,  or  pyrite  can  be  had  from 
outside  sources. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  smelting  proper  at  Mount  Lyell  is 
accomplished  in  two  steps.  A  low-grade  matte  is  made  in  the  first 
smelting,  which  is  enriched  by  a  second  smelting  to  a  grade  1  :<?h 
enough  for  the  converter.  This  in  a  differently  constructed  charge 
may  not  be  necessary, — depending  upon  the  per  cent,  of  copper,  de- 
gree of  concentration  and  the  proportion  of  iron  to  silica.  A  charge 
can  be  made  of  Montana  ores  which  will  not  require  the  second,  or 
concentration  smelting;  but  the  second  smelting,  being  relatively 
small  compared  with  the  first,  is  never  a  serious  matter  and  adds 
but  little  to  the  cost. 

I  have  now  sketched  the  two  outside  cases  of  pyritic  smelting, 
both  of  which  are  eminently  successful  in  their  respective  fields. 
There  are  many  cases,  however,  which  lie  between  these  extremes, 
as  at  Butte,  Mont.;  in  Gilpin  County,  Colorado;  British  Columbia  and 
elsewhere,  where  the  sulphide  ores  carry  a  large  percentage  of  silica, 
and  are  treated  by  water  concentration  before  smelting.  This  pre-sup- 
T  uses  concentration  mills  of  enormous  capacity  and  roasting  furnaces 
for  the  concentrates  so  obtained,  both  of  which  cost  great  sums  of 
money,  and  which  are  at  very  best  wasteful.  By  the  further  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  already  developed  and  the  utilization  of  the 
cheap  fuel  now  wasted,  it  is  barely  possible  that  the  process  might 
be  modified. 

Modern  copper  smelting  methods  have  received  their  greatest 
development  at  Butte,  and  I  will  let  no  one  go  beyond  me  in  admira- 
tion of  the  great  work  done  there  and  sincere  respect  for  those  who 
have  accomplished  it.  Their  mills  are  models  of  mechanical  ingenuity 
never  surpassed,  and  their  reverberatory  furnace  work  is  not  else- 
where equalled.  I  do  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  these  last  fur- 
naces, which  a  few  years  ago,  when  first  introduced  from  Swansea, 
had  a  hearth  capacity  of  but  9  by  14  feet  and  a  smelting  capacity 
often  as  low  at  ten  tons  per  day,  requiring  to  be  clayed  up  every 
twenty-four  hours,  have  now  been  developed  into  furnaces  having 
hearths  20  by  50  feet  and  smelting  more  than  100  tons  each  in 
twenty-four  hours,  and  which  require  claying  not  more  than  once 
in  twelve  days;  also  that  they  save  more  than  50  per  cent  of  the 
fuel  used  in  the  old  furnaces.  It  is,  therefore,  with  the  greatest  dif- 
fidence that  I  suggest  that  any  change  is  possible  in  the  methods 
of  a  camp  which  is  today  without  a  peer  in  the  world  for  the  ex- 
cellency of  its  work — but  let  us  not  forget  history. 

"The  old  order  changeth,  giving  place  to  new." 

Seemingly  small  things  in  metallurgy  have  often  accomplished  the 
greatest  results. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  still  running  in  Savoy,  a  small  iron 
blast  furnace  blown  by  a  trompe,  or  box  in  which  falling  water  com- 
pressed air  by  entangling  it  in  its  fall — a  blower  which  we  may 
readily  imagine  neither  heated  the  air  nor  dr.od  it,  yet  the  addition 


74  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

of  this  blowing  machine,  crude  as  it  was,  made  the  instrument  which 
put  out  of  bla.=t  all  the  Catalan  direct  furnaces  in  every  part  of  the 
world.  Without  the  trompe  the  blast  furnace  for  iron  would  probably 
not  have  existed,  and  without  pig  iron  all  that  is  known  to  us  now 
as  the  "age  of  steel"  could  not  have  existed. 

Already  three-fourths  of  the  beautiful  ancient  Welsh  copper  pro- 
cess, with  its  roastings  and  re-smeltings,  to  which  the  reverberatory 
furnace  belonged,  has  gone  by  never  to  return — the  one  operation  of 
converting  having  replaced  them  all. 

I  believe  that  when  Hollway  undertook  to  smelt  the  Rio  Tinto 
copper  ores  without  fuel  other  than  what  they  themselves  contained, 
he  laid  down  a  principle  which  will  ultimately  make  every  copper 
roasting  heap  and  roasting  furnace  as  useless  as  the  Catalan  forge, 
and  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when  one  would  no  sooner  waste  his 
good  iron  sulphide  fuel  than  he  would  his  good  coke.  Already  more 
ore  is  smelted  raw  at.  Butte  than  formerly.  The  first-class  copper  ore 
and  the  coarse  concentrates  go  into  the  blast  furnace  raw — a  tribute, 
as  far  as  it  goes,  to  pyritic  smelting.  But  if  the  principles  here  main- 
tained are  correct,  the  large  concentrating  mills  and  roasting  furnaces 
will  gradually  be  replaced  by  a  process  that  is  all  one  of  fire,  and  that 
fire  largely  derived  from  the  oxidation  of  the  now  wasted  pyrite. 

I  have  done  what  I  could  to  secure  the  actual  composition  and 
cost  of  treating  an  average  ton  of  Butte  ore,  as  it  is  broken  at  the 
mines,  that  I  might  make  a  comparison  between  the  all-fire  raw 
method  here  advocated  and  the  combination  water  concentration- 
smelting  method  now  employed. 

The  following  may  not  be  absolutely  correct,  but  it  will  do  for 
comparison.  The  ores  of  this  district,  according  to  a  recent  paper,  are 
mined  in  two  classes.  The  first  are  said  to  average  from  10  to  15  per 
cent,  copper,  and  to  constitute  ten  per  cent,  of  the  ores  raised.  The 
second  class  comprises  the  remaining  ninety  per  cent.,  and  yields  from 
three  to  six  per  cent,  copper.  If  all  were  broken  down  together,  we 
may  take  five  per  cent,  as  the  average,  and  30  to  40  per  cent,  silica  with 
the  alumina,  alkalies,  sulphur  and  iron  to  balance. 

I  have  arrived  at  the  present  cost  per  ton  of  ore  from  the  testi- 
mony of  Mr.  Frank  Klepetko,  in  March,  1898. 

Dressing  (or  water  concentration)  per  ton  of  ore,  82  cents;  roast- 
ing concentrates  derived  from  a  ton  of  ore,  38  cents;  smelting  calcines 
derived  from  a  ton  of  ore,  $1.20;  total,  per  ton  of  original  ore,  $2.40. 

In  the  water  concentration  he  stated  the  loss  to  be  18  per  cent.; 
in  the  roasting,  2.6  per  cent.;  in  the  smelting,  4.2  per  cent;  total,  24.8 
per  cent. 

With  copper  at  14  cents  per  pound,  this  is  worth  $3.47,  making 
the  total  cost,  including  losses,  $5.87  per  ton  of  original  ore. 

If  this  ore  were  smelted  direct  as  it  comes  from  the  mine,  without 
concentrating  or  roasting,  by  the  addition  of  limestone  and  coke  and 
the  application  of  hot  blast,  it  would  cost  fully  as  much  per  ton  of 
ore,  perhaps  more;  but  I  am  sure  that  three  dollars  per  ton  will  cover 
it.  This  is  more  per  ton,  but  I  estimate  a  greater  saving.  According 
to  the  above  statement  there  was  lost,  in  the  concentrating,  roasting 
and  smelting  24.8  per  cent,  of  the  original  contents  of  the  ore  by  the 
time  the  copper  was  raised  to  a  grade  sufficiently  high  for  the  con- 
verters— against  which  I  figure  but  9  per  'cent,  in  direct  smelting, 
leaving  a  difference  of  $3.47  minus  $1.26,  equal  to  $2.21  gain  per  ton. 
As  this  gain  is  wholly  in  the  copper,  it  adds  a  proportional  length  of 
life  to  the  mines.  If,  however,  the  one  smelting  can  not  be  done  for 
the  cost  of  concentrating,  roasting  and  smelting,  this  gain  would  be 
reduced  by  the  difference.  If  the  first  smelting  cost  $3.00,  which  I 
am  sure  is  ample,  we  should  still  have  a  gain  of  $1.60  in  favor  of  raw 
smelting,  always  supposing  these  figures  to  be  correct. 

In  our  prejudice  for  the  established  methods,  it  will  be  well  to 
remember  a  story  told  by  a  traveler  from  the  Sahara  Desert.  He  came 
across  a  party  of  Arabs  making  iron — doubtless  after  a  manner  dating 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  75 

from  the  days  of  Abraham.  The  furnace  consisted  of  a  hole  in  the 
ground,  around  which  were  three  blowing  engines,  each  consisting  of 
an  Arab  with  a  long  tube,  one  end  of  which  was  in  his  mouth  and  the 
other  in  the  furnace.  After  blowing,  from  six  to  eight  pounds  of  iron 
per  shift  was  obtained. 

Our  traveler  was  much  impressed,  but  inquired  of  the  boss  metal- 
lurgist, "Why  do  you  use  this  method  of  making  iron?"  He  received 
a  look  of  withering  scorn  and  the  reply,  "What  other  method  can  there 
be?  Neither  our  fathers  nor  ourselves  ever  heard  of  any  other." 

Because  our  fathers  and  ourselves  have  always  burned  our  iron 
and  sulphur  outside  of  the  furnace  is  no  good  reason  for  continuing  it. 

F.  R.  CARPENTER. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  are  to  be  congratulated  that  the 
officers  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  have  taken  an  interest 
in  the  efforts  of  this  Congress  to  stimulate  the  mining  industry,  by 
sending  some  of  its  most  noted  men.  We  have  with  us  a  gentleman 
who  was  a  member  appointed  by  the  President,  of  the  board  of  arbi- 
tration of  the  great  anthracite  strike  in  the  east  that  so  interested 
every  community  throughout  this  land.  I  mention  this,  not  because 
Mr.  Parker  needs  any  introduction,  but  because  I  want  every  man  in 
this  community,  who  is  interested  in  the  great  labor  question  to  know 
who  will  address  them.  You  will  therefore  be  addressed  now  by  Hon. 
E.  W.  Parker  on  the  subject  of  Coal. 

HONORABLE  E.  W.  PARKER:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gen- 
tlemen: I  have  been  placed  on  the  program  to  talk  about  coal.  The 
subject  is  a  very  broad  one  than  cannot  be  covered  in  an  address 
before  an  assembly  of  this  kind  without  occupying  a  great  deal  more 
time  than  I  consider  I  was  required  to  give  to  it.  I  have  taken  a  very 
small  corner  of  the  field  and  it  relates  principally  to  what  we  are 
going  to  try  to  show  at  the  St.  Louis  exposition,  what  we  have  in  the 
way  of  coal  mining  resources. 

On  May  1,  1904,  the  gates  of  the  greatest  World's  Fair  and 
Universal  Exposition  the  world  has  ever  seen  will  be  opened  at  St. 
Louis,  Mo.  When  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  is  spoken  of  the 
first  question  asked  is:  "How  is  it  going  to  compare  with  Chicago?" 
Many  visitors  to  that  great  show,  myself  among  them,  firmly  believed 
that  the  exposition  business  had  attained  the  acme  of  success  in  the 
White  City  of  Chicago.  Few  if  any,  would  have  had  the  courage  to  sug- 
gest that  within  a  half  century  at  most,  a  greater  exposition  would  be 
thrown  open  to  the  world.  But  the  seemingly  impossible  is  being 
accomplished.  Chicago  is  being  outdone.  A  decade  has  scarcely 
rounded  out  since  we  walked  with  ever  increasing  wonder  through 
the  great  buildings  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  gazed  with 
almost  speechless  awe  upon  the  splendors  of  the  illuminated  Court  of 
Honor,  and  amused  ourselves  among  the  mysteries  of  the  Midway 
Plaisance,  and  now  we  see  rising  at  St.  Louis  another  and  a  greater 
dream  city.  And  when  this  is  said,  it  is  said  without  exaggeration. 
One  has  but  to  see  the  remarkable  progress  already  made  in  the  con- 
struction of  buildings  and  the  preparation  of  the  grounds  to  be 
convinced  that  St.  Louis  is  not  only  determined,  but  is  going,  to  sur- 
pass all  previous  efforts  in  the  way  of  International  Expositions. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  present  here  an  address  devoted  to  the 
general  advertising  of  the  World's  Fair.  We  leave  that  the  Bureau  of 
Publicity.  But  when  one  is  connected  officially  with  such  a  gigantic 
enterprise,  however  unimportant  his  position,  he  may  be  pardoned  for 
assimilating  a  part  of  the  enthusiasm  which  appears  to  inspire  those 
having  the  cares  and  responsibilities  of  management. 

The  portion  of  the  St.  Louis  Exposition  in  which  this  Congress 
is  most  directly  interested  it  naturally  the  Department  of  Mines  and 
Metallurgy.  The  general  scope  of  the  work  of  this  department  will  be 
presented  to  you  in  more  extensive  detail  by  Prof.  J.  A.  Holmes,  its 


76  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

chief,  who  will  arrive  this  evening,  and  I  shall  confine  my  remarks  to 
the  particular  branch  of  that  department  which  comes  directly  under 
my  charge,  that  of  coal. 

The  lesson  learned  through  the  wonderful  industrial  development 
of  the  United  States  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  19th  century  is  that 
to  our  coal  mines  more  than  to  any  other  one  cause  is  due  our  present 
supremacy  among  the  Nations  of  the  earth.  In  a  recently  published 
volume  on  the  adjustment  of  wages,  Prof.  W.  J.  Ashley,  of  the  Univers- 
ity of  Birmingham,  England,  comments  on  the  former  superiority  of 
Great  Britain,  which  was  founded  on  her  coal,  and  shows  how,  since 
1889,  the  United  States  has  outstripped  that  country  in  iron  and  steel 
manufacturing  and  that  we  are  forging  farther  and  farther  ahead,  not 
only  of  Great  Britain,  but  of  the  world — simply  because  of  our  wealth 
in  coal.  How  many  of  you  are  aware  that  in  1901  the  United  States 
produced  practically  40  per  cent,  of  the  entire  world's  supply  of  pig 
iron,  and  44  per  cent,  of  the  entire  output  of  steel?  In  1902  this 
country  added  nearly  2,000,000  tons  to  the  pig  iron  product  of  1901, 
and  reached  a  total  of  nearly  18,000,000  long  tons.  How  many  of  you 
are  aware  that  in  1902  we  produced  almost  exactly  double  the  amount 
of  pig  iron  .made  in  this  country  in  1892,  ten  years  before,  and  about 
four  times  that  made  in  1882?  How  many  of  you  are  aware  that  in 
the  first  half  of  1903  the  furnaces  of  the  United  States  turned  out  pig 
iron  equal  in  amount  to  that  produced  in  all  the  other  countries  of  the 
world  in  a  similar  period  for  1901?  This  great  development  is  due  in 
large  part  to  coal.  Our  vast  deposits  of  iron  ore  would  lie  unpros- 
pected  and  undeveloped  but  for  the  coal  which  reduces  them  to  work- 
able iron  and  steel.  Without  the  coal  the  steel  would  not  be  made  for 
our  railroads  nor  would  there  be  the  locomotives  to  draw  the  trains. 
It  is  coal  which  moves  the  world  today,  not  gold.  Gold  and  silver 
lubricate  the  wheels,  and  that  is  very  important,  I  grant  you,  but  coal 
makes  the  power.  ' 

Now,  what  are  we  doing  in  the  development  of  that  power?  We 
look  at  the  statistics  of  production  and  we  see  that  our  coal  mines 
produced  in  1902  a  total  of  293,300,000  short  tons  of  coal.  We  are 
accustomed  to  talk  in  millions  now-a-days  and  consequently  these 
figures  may  not  sound  impressive,  but  let  us  see  what  sized  mass  this 
product  represents.  If  this  one  year's  product  were  gathered  in  one 
large  heap  and  measured  it  would  make  a  mountain  containing  7,360,- 
000,000  cubic  feet.  A  pyramid  at  sea  level  built  of  this  material  and 
having  a  base  a  quarter  of  a  mile  square  would  reach  an  altitude  of 
12.672  feet  or  5,860  feet  (something  over  a  mile)  higher  than  Custer 
Peak.  If  put  into  a  column  with  a  rectangular  base  1,000  feet  on  each 
edge  (nearly  a  fifth  of  a  mile)  it  would  reach  an  altitude  of  1.4  miles. 
The  holes  left  in  the  ground  by  this  excavating  would  contain  a  city 
two  and  three-tenths  miles  square,  whose  buildings  averaged  fifty  feet 
in  height. 

How  our  coal  mining  industry  has  grown  is  shown  in  the  record 
of  the  last  thirty  years.  Those  of  us  who  remember  so  far  back  as 
1871,  thought  we  were  doing  some  business  at  that  time  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  we  were  just  recovering  from  the  effects  of  the  civil 
war.  We  produced  in  that  year  a  little  over  46,000,000  tons  of  coal. 
In  1881  we  mined  86,000,000  tons,  less  than  half  that  of  our  industrial 
rival,  Great  Britain,  but  nearly  double  our  output  ten  years  before. 
In  1891  our  product  had  increased  to  nearly  170,000,000  tons,  almost 
double  that  of  1881,  while  in  1901  we  came  within  two  per  cent,  of 
reaching  300,000,000  tons,  outstripping  Great  Britain  by  nearly  50,000,- 
000  tons,  and  exceeding  Great  Britain  and  all  her  colonies  by  over 
25,000,000  tons.  The  United  States  is  now  contributing  more  than  one- 
third  the  entire  world's  supply  of  coal. 

In  order  to  show  how  our  coal  mining  industry  indicates  the  great 
strides  that  we  have  made  in  manufacturers  we  may  compare  the 
statistics  of  coal  production  with  those  of  our  population.  If  coal 
mining  in  the  United  States  during  the  past  thirty  years  had  merely 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  77 

kept  pace  with  our  increasing  population  the  production  in  1901  would 
have  been  considerably  less  than  100,000,000  tons,  whereas,  it  reached 
nearly  300,000,000  tons.  In  1870  we  had  a  population  of  38,558,371 
persons,  and  our  total  coal  production  amounted  to  36,806,560  tons, 
showing  a  per  capita  consumption  of  less  than  one  ton.  In  1880,  with 
a  population  of  a  little  over  50,000,000  we  produced  71,481,569  tons  of 
coal,  or  one  ton  and  860  pounds  for  each  inhabitant.  At  the  end  of 
the  next  decade  our  population  had  increased  to  62,622,650  and  our 
coal  production  to  nearly  158,000,000  tons,  making  2y2  tons  of  coal  to 
each  person,  and  in  the  last  year  of  the  last  century,  when  our  popu- 
lation was  a  little  over  76,300,000,  we  mined  nearly  270,000,000  tons  of 
coal,  or  more  than  3%  tons  per  capita.  In  other  words,  while  our  pop- 
ulation in  1900  was  not  quite  double  that  of  1870,  the  coal  product  was 
7.4  times  as  large.  Our  exports  of  coal  do  not  amount  to  more  than 
4  or  5  million  tons  and  hence  do  not  effect  these  figures.  The  facts 
are  worthy  of  consideration,  for  it  must  also  be  remembered  that,  with 
the  increase  in  per  capita  consumption  of  coal,  there  has  been  an 
even  greater  increase  in  the  production  of  petroleum;  and  natural  gas, 
which  was  not  used  commercially  before  1882,  has  for  the  past  fifteen 
years  been  extensively  utilized  as  a  fuel  and  has  displaced  a  large 
amount  of  coal. 

It  is  but  just  that  an  industry  upon  which  so  many  other  indus- 
tries, we  might  say  the  commercial  life  of  the  Nation  itself,  depend, 
should  have  proper  representation  at  the  St.  Louis  Exposition.  Here 
are  two  great  enterprises,  and  we  must  see  that  both  should  have 
their  importance  recognized.  The  Exposition  will  attract  to  it  visitors 
from  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  Those  from  foreign  countries  come  to 
learn  something  about  us,  and  the  majority  of  them  will  be  of  such 
calibre  that  it  will  pay  us  to  show  them  something  substantial,  some- 
thing that  they  will  remember.  It  is  with  this  idea  in  mind  that  we 
have  prepared  a  plan  for  a  collective  and  educational  coal  exhibit,  the 
scope  of  which  has  never  been  attempted  at  any  previous  exposition. 
I  must  confess  that  when  I  first  presented  the  plans  to  some  of  the 
leading  coal  operators  and  associations  of  operators,  it  was  with  a 
feeling  of  trepidation.  It  means  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of 
money.  Instead  of  discouraging  the  idea,  it  is  exceedingly  gratifying 
to  state  that  the  operators  have  in  most  cases  entered  cordially  into 
the  proposition  and  have  given  substantial  evidence  of  their  willing- 
ness to  cooperate  in  the  scheme. 

A  large  space  has  been  reserved  in  the  Mines  and  Metallurgy 
building  for  the  display  of  the  exhibits  representing  the  coal  mining 
industry.  This  will  be  divided  among  the  states  according  to  the 
extent  of  their  exhibits,  and  as  nearly  as  possible  according  to 
geographical  location. 

An  interesting  feature  of  this  coal  display  will  consist  of  large 
relief  maps  of  some  of  the  principal  coal  fields  of  the  .country.  It 
might  be  desirable  to  have  such  maps  of  all  the  coal  mining  region, 
but  it  is  not  possible  to  prepare  them.  Only  such  regions  can  he 
illustrated  in  this  way  as  have  been  made  the  subject  of  topographical 
and  geological  surveys.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  obtain  enough  of 
such  data  and  to  prepare  enough  such  maps  to  illustrate  in  a  general 
way.  These  maps  will  show  practically  in  miniature  the  country  rep- 
resented. They  will  show  the  hills  and  the  valleys,  the  plains  and 
water  courses,  the  roads  and  railroads,  the  towns  and  mining  camps, 
and  the  location  of  each  mine  in  the  region  covered  by  the  map. 
They  will  also  show  the  surface  and  structural  geology  and  the  entire 
area  underlaid  by  workable  coal  seams;  and  where  possible,  the  por- 
tions of  the  region  available  for  farming  purposes  and  the  sections 
covered  by  forest  growths  of  economic  importance. 

Another  interesting  feature  will  be  maps  of  two  or  three  typical 
mining  towns  or  camps  illustrating  the  character  of  such  communi- 


78  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

ties  in  the  different  states.  These  maps  will  also  show  the  tipple  and 
other  buildings  connected  with  the  operations  of  the  mines,  miners' 
houses,  etc. 

It  is,  of  course,  evident  that  the  scale  upon  which  such  maps  are 
constructed  is  very  much  larger  than  the  scale  upon  which  the  relief 
maps  can  be  constructed.  It  will  mean  in  reality,  showing  in  detail 
certain  features  indicated  on  the  relief  maps. 

Then  on  a  still  larger  scale,  will  be  shown  models  of  working 
mines  in  the  different  states  and  illustrating,  so  far  as  possible,  typical 
conditions  existing  in  those  states.  It  is  proposed,  for  instance,  to 
show  by  such  models  drift  mining  by  the  pillar-and-room  system  as 
practiced  largely  in  Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia  and  other  Eastern 
States;  shaft  mining  under  the  pillar-and-room  system  as  practiced 
principally  in  Illinois  and  Indiana;  slope  mining  under  the  pillar-and- 
room  system,  and  under  a  modification  of  this  system,  as  practiced  in 
Arkansas  and  the  Indian  Territory;  strip  or  open-work  mining,  as 
practiced  to  a  considerable  extent  in  Kansas  and  Missouri,  and  shaft 
mining  under  the  long  wall  system  as  practiced  in  Kansas  and  Missouri, 
and  also  in  Illinois.  Wherever  possible  it  is  desired  to  show  by  figures, 
etc.,  the  mines  at  work  and  to  exhibit  the  different  methods  of  hand  and 
machine  mining,  methods  of  ventilation,  underground  haulage  and 
hoisting,  and  the  pumping  or  hoisting  of  water.  It  is  also  proposed 
to  show  the  surface  conditions  and  improvements  in  each  case.  The 
plan,  generally,  will  be  to  show  say  about  one-third  of  the  model  with 
the  surface  shown,  and  about  two-thirds  showing  the  mine  as  if  the 
surface  were  lifted  off,  and  the  observer  were  looking  down  directly 
upon  the  workings. 

The  method  of  utilizing  bituminous  coal  in  the  manufacture  of 
coke  will  be  shown  by  models  of  coking  plants.  In  connection  with 
this  will  be  shown  specimens  of  coal  used  in  coke  making  and  speci- 
mens of  different  grades  of  coke  made  from  such  coal.  Also  in  con- 
nection with  the  models  of  coking  plants  will  be  shown  working 
models  of  crushing  and  washing  machinery  illustrating  the  manner 
in  which  coal  is  prepared  for  coke  manufacture,  where  such  prepara- 
tion is  necessary. 

Another  feature  which  we  think  will  prove  of  particular  interest 
and  value  will  be  a  collection  of  coal  sections  from  most  of  the  import- 
ant seams  throughout  the  bituminous  coal  mining  regions.  These  sec- 
tions will  consist  of  rectangular  blocks  of  coal  from  three  to  four  feet 
on  each  edge  and  showing  the  entire  thickness  of  the  seam  as  it  occurs 
in  the  ground.  They  will  be  cut  out  of  the  seams  in  solid  blocks  and 
will  form  a  formidable  array  for  the  contemplation  of  competitive 
coal  producing  countries. 

The  sections  will  be  accompanied  by  maps  illustrating  the  area  of 
country  underlaid  by  the  coal.  They  will  also  be  accompanied  by 
specimens  of  the  coal  as  mined  and  prepared  for  the  market.  Then 
too,  there  will  be  samples  showing  the  run  of  mine,  and  where  the 
coal  is  screened  before  being  sold  there  will  be  speciments  of  lump,  nut 
and  slack  coal  produced  from  the  mine  run.  If  the  coal  is  used  for 
coke  making  specimens  of  uncrushed  and  unwashed  coal  will  be 
shown  as  compared  with  the  crushed  and  washed  coal,  from  the  same 
mine. 

As  you  all  doubtless  know,  the  United  States  is  the  largest  coke 
producing  country  in  the  world.  This  coke  being  made  from  the 
bituminous  coal  in  beehive  and  retort  ovens.  We  produced  in  1902 
25,401,730  tons  of  coke  and  consumed  in  its  manufacture  39,604,007 
tons  of  bituminous  coal.  Consequently  we  will  exhibit  in  connection 
with  each  section  of  coal,  specimens  of  the  coke  made  from  it.  And 
where  there  are  different  grades  of  coke,  such  as  foundry,  furnace  or 
domestic,  samples  of  each  kind  will  be  shown.  All  the  coal  and  coke 
specimens  will  be  accompanied  by  analysis  and  by  certified  statements 
of  tests  made  of  either  the  coal  or  coke  for  specific  purposes. 

What  should  not  be  forgotten  in  this  brief  description  is  that  there 
will  be  a  great  display  of  machinery  used  in  connection  with  the  coal 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  79 

mining  industry.  This  will  include  machinery  used  in  coal  mining, 
haulage,  pumping  and  ventilation;  then  overhead  transportation, 
models  of  shipping  docks,  where  the  coal  is  handled  from  railroad 
cars  to  vessels,  the  whole  being  made  complete  by  exhibits  of  auto- 
matic stokers  and  other  mechanical  devices  for  the  economic  handling 
and  consumption  of  fuel  and  for  the  consumption  and  suppression  of 
smoke.  If  by  this  latter  feature  the  exhibition  is  able  to  do  anything 
for  the  relief  of  the  smoke-laden  atmosphere  of  some  of  our  larger 
western  cities,  it  will  not  have  been  in  vain. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  presume  that  every  miner  that 
comes  here  is  deeply  interested  in  the  next  paper  as  it  pertains  to 
all  of  the  development  of  nearly  every  great  interest  in  the  west  and 
this  is  by  C.  W.  Merrill,  of  Lead,  South  Dakota,  his  subject  being  "The 
Metallurgy  of  the  Homestake  Ore."  As  soon  as  Mjr.  Merrill  has  deliv- 
ered his  address  there  are  copies  here  for  distribution  that  may  be  had 
by  calling  for  them. 

THE    METALLURGY    OF    THE    HOMESTAKE    ORE. 
I.  THE  PROPERTY. 

The  Homestake  Mining  Co.  has  acquired  through  consolidation 
the  ground  and  equipment  of  the  Father  De  Smet  Consolidated  Gold- 
Mining  Co.,  the  Deadwood-Terra  Mining  Co.,  the  Caledonia  Gold-Min- 
ing Co.  and  the  Highland  Mining  Co.,  at  and  near  Lead,  Lawrence 
county,  South  Dakota,  in  the  northern  portion  of  'the  Black  Hills.  The 
company  owns  or  controls  250  claims,  comprising  2616  acres,  and  cov- 
ering about  8000  feet  along  the  strike  of  the  lode. 

At  the  surface  there  are  several  veins,  of  which  three  have  united 
in  depth,  where  the  main!  vein  ranges  from  300  to  500  feet  in  width. 
The  1100-foot  level  is  the  lowest  at  present.  The  rock  of  both  walls  is, 
so  far  as  known  at  present,  carboniferous  slate,  and  the  country  is 
penetrated  by  a  system  of  porphyry-dikes,  and  in  some  places  capped 
with  porphyry. 

The  output  of  the  company  up  to  January,  1903,  has  been,  approx- 
imately, $70,000,000. 

II.  THE   ORE. 

The  oxidized,  open-cut  ore  is  nearly  all  treated  in  the  three  mills 
on  the  northern  part  of  the  property,  which  are  as  follows :  The  Min- 
eral Point  (formerly  the  De  Smet),  of  100  stamps,  the  Monroe  (formerly 
Caledonia),  of  100  stamps,  and  the  Pocahontas  (formerly  the  Dead- 
wood-Terra),  of  160  stamps.  A  cyanide  plant,  to  treat  the  leachable 
portion  of  the  tailings  from  these  North  End  mills,  has  recently  been 
installed  and  put  into  operation  at  Gayville,  or  Blacktail,  as  it  is  now 
known. 

The  Homestake  lower-level  ore,  which  comprises  the  greater  part 
of  that  being  milled  at  Lead,  may  be  described  as  a  horn-blende,  gar- 
netiferous  schist  or  slate,  which  has  been  crushed  and  infiltrated  with 
free  silica  and  pyrites,  the  latter  being  about  7  or  8  per  cent,  of  the 
ore,  and  comprising  pyrite,  pyrrhotite  and  traces  only  of  chalcopyrite 
and  arsenopyrite.* 


*  The  standards  used  in  this  discussion  are:  the  U.  S.  gold-dollar;  the 
U.  S.  short  ton  of  2000  Ibs.  avolrd.,  and  the  value  of  an  ounce  of  fine  gold, 
$20.67.  Percentages  are  given  by  weight,  and  not  by  volume.  Sizings  are 
classed  as  coarse  (that  portion  of  the  sample  which  will  remain  on  a  100- 
mesh  screen;  diameter  of  wire,  0.00433  in.;  size  of  opening,  0.00575  sq.  in.); 
middles  (the  material  finer  than  the  opening  of  the  above  100-mesh  screen, 
and  coarser  than  the  opening  of  the  commercial  200-mesh  screen  as  given 
below);  and  fines  (the  material  which  will  pass  such  a  200-mesh  screen; 
diameter  of  wire,  0.00216  in.;  size  of  opening,  0.00312  sq.  in.).  A  further 
subdivision  of  fines  is  also  mentioned,  which  is  based  upon  the  granular, 
or  angular,  condition  of  one  portion  and  the  flocculent,  or  amorphous, 
condition  of  the  remaining  portion  of  these  fines. 


80  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

III.  MILLING. 

The  ore  receives  its  first  crushing  in  rotary  breakers  at  the  hoists, 
and  this  product  varies  in  size  from  that  of  sea-sand  up  to  rock  having 
an  extreme  dimension  of  4  inches.  From  bins  at  the  hoists  at  Lead, 
the  broken  ore  is  trammed  to  the  three  mills,  i.  e.,  the  Homestake  and 
Golden  Star,  containing  200  stamps  each,  and  the  Amicus  (formerly  the 
Highland),  in  which  there  are  140  heads,  making  a  total  of  40. 

From  the  mill-bins  the  ore  passes  to  the  mortar,  which  is  of  the 
now  celebrated  Homestake  narrow  pattern,  where  it  is  crushed 
between  cast-iron  shoes  and  dies,  the  weight  of  the  stamp  when  equip- 
ped with  new  iron  being  900  Ibs.,  the  drop  10 %  inches,  and  falling  88 
times  per  minute. 

The  screen  is  of  the  steel-needle  slot-type  Nb.  8,  and  the  bottom  of 
the  screen-opening  averages  10  inches  above  the  top  of  the  dies. 

The  long  drop,  high  discharge  and  small  area  of  screen  openings 
produce  an  extremely  fine  pulp,  about  80  per  cent,  passing  a  100-mesh 
screen,  and  it  is  to  the  writer  a  most  remarkable  fact  that  under  these 
conditions  such  a  high  stamp-duty  is  maintained,  it  being  fully  4  tons 
per  stamp  per  twenty-four  hours. 

This  duty  is  possible  only  because:  first,  of  the  very  favorable 
nature  of  the  ore,  the  slate  and  pyrite  crushing  readily  and  the  quartz 
being  an  excellent  medium  of  attrition;  secondly,  of  the  large  propor- 
tion of  water  used,  being  from  eight  to  ten  times  the  weight  of  ore 
crushed;  and,  thirdly,  of  the/  narrow  mortar,  which  is  only  12  inches 
wide  at  the  lip. 

This  very  fine  and  thin  pulp  is  in  the  most  excellent  condition  for 
amalgamating,  which  process  is  conducted  both  inside  the  mortar  and 
outside,  on  full-size  plates  in  series  (each  54  by  144  by  %  inch)  to  each 
mortar.  The  first  of  these  is  a  copper-plate,  and  the  other  three  are 
silver  plated  copper,  the  weight  of  plating  being  2  oz.  per  square  foot, 
and  all  silver-plating  being  done  at  the  works.  The  addition  of  the 
three  silver-plates  to  each  stamp  battery  by  Mr.  Crier  has  proven  one  of 
the  most  valuable  steps  in  the  treatment  of  this  ore,  and  has  brought 
about  an  additional  profit  amounting  to,  approximately,  $250,000  dur- 
ing the  year  1902,  over  and  above  what  would  have  been  realized  from 
amalgamation  had  the  outside  plate-surface  been  only  that  of  the  one 
copper  plate — which,  by  the  way,  is  considered  ample  in  many  of  the 
large  modern  plants  of  the  day. 

In  connection  with  amalgamation,  the  practice  at  the  Homestake 
conforms,  as  far  as  conditions  will  permit,  to  the  theory  that  the 
maximum  results  are  obtained  when  the  temperature  of  the  water 
used  in  the  batteries  is 'low  enough  to  exert  the  minimum  influence  on 
the  minerals  of  the  ore;  and  it  is  contended  that  the  plate-yield 
proves  the  correctness  if  this  theory. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  investigate  the  question  of  amalgama- 
tion and  finer  crushing  in  other  gold-producing  sections,  particularly 
in  South  Africa,  where  the  yield  from  this  source  is  reported  to  be 
from  55  to  60  per  cent.,  as  compared  with  70  to  75  per  cent,  at  the 
Homestake.  Perhaps  finer  crushing  would  not  only  greatly  increase 
their  amalgam-yield,  but  also  reduce  the  values  lost  in  their  cyanide- 
residues.  This  seems  the  more  likely  for  that  country,  because  their 
slimes  have  been  proved  to  have  value  sufficient  for  secondary  treat- 
ment, whereas  this  has  not  yet  been  proved  at  the  Homestake,  where 
th  advisability  of  sliming  such  a  large  proportion  of  the  ore  has  been  a 
debatable  point,  because  the  slimes  here  contain  only  $0.85  to  $1.10  in 
value  per  ton.  But  of  this  more  will  be  said  later. 

The  total  cost  of  milling  in  the  200-stamp  mills  at  Lead  is,  approx- 
imately, $0.40  per  ton. 

CLASSIFICATION. 

We  now  have  a  pulp  containing  eight  or  ten  parts  of  water  to  one 
of  ore;  and  much  of  the  latter  is  so  infinitisimally  fine  as  to  cause  a 
visitor,  who  had  watched  an  attempt  to  filter  the  slimes  on  a  large 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  81 

scale,  to  say  that,  for  an  exemplification  of  the  size  of  a  molecule,  he 
would  advise  the  study  of  Homestake  slimes. 

The  tailings  as  they  leave  the  mill  are  sized,  with  the  following 
results: 

Coarse  (remaining  on  100-mesh),  22  per  cent. 

Middles  (between  100-  and  200-mesh),  18  per  cent. 

Fines  (passing  a  200-mesh  screen),  60  per  cent. 

That  is,  60  per  cent,  of  the  particles  issuing  from  the  mortar  have 
less  than  0.00001  square  inch  of  cross-section. 

When  the  erection  of  the  cyanide  plant  had  been  determined  upon, 
the  question  of  a  tailings-wheel  to  elevate  the  pulp  and  permit  the 
location  of  the  plant  nearer  the  mills  being  under  discussion, 
it  was  calculated  that  to  elevate  the  tailings  at  a  cost  of  about  2  cents 
per  ton  would  cost  the  company,  approximately,  $140,000,  on  the  pro- 
portion of  the  material  then  blocked  out  in  the  mine  which  would  be 
available  for  leaching.  In  other  words,  for  every  cent  per  ton  which 
could  be  saved  in  the  secondary  treatment  of  the  leachable  material, 
the  company  would  profit  ultimately  to  the  extent  of  at  least  $70,000. 
Consequently,  the  plant  was  located  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  below 
the  Lead  mills;  and  the  problems  of  transportation  and  of  such  class- 
ification as  would  permit  the  pumping-plant  to  return  its  former  per- 
centage of  water  to  the  mills,  presented  themselves.  The  latter  has 
been  met  by  the  installation  of  the  upper  cone-house,  where  12  gravity- 
settling  cones,  7  feet  in  diameter  and  with  50  degree  sides,  throw  off 
about  half  the  water  and,  perhaps,  one-fifth  the  solid  matter,  which 
latter  is  the  very  finest  slime,  of  the  following  sizing,  during  19,02: 
Coarse,  0;  middles,  1.76;  fines,  98.24  per  cent.  The  thickened  slimes 
are  subsequently,  settled  out  of  this  pulp,  and  a  part  of  the  water  is 
returned  to  the  mills. 

From  the  bottom  of  the  cones  is  drawn  the  thickened  pulp,  con- 
taining all  of  the  leachable  material  and  some  of  the  slimes.  This 
portion  is  transported  by  means  of  a  12-inch  cast-iron  flanged  pipe  on 
a  minimum  grade  of  2.5  per  cent,  and  with  as  few  turns  as  possible, 
to  the  cyanide-plant. 

The  second  step  in  the  classification  is  carried  out  in  the  plant 
proper  by  means  of  6  more  gravity-settling  cones,  the  overflow  from 
which,  of  a  like  composition  to  that  of  the  first  12  cones,  is  conducted 
to  a  collecting-tank,  whence  it  is  drawn  for  the  purpose  of  sluicing  out 
the  leachable  material  after  its  treatment  has  been  completed.  The 
average  size  of  this  second  settling-cone  overflow  for  1902  was: 
Coarse,  0;  middles,  1.38;  fines,  98.62  per  cent. 

The  under-flow  from  the  second  set  of  gravity-settling  cones, 
'which  is  now  quite  thick,  passes  to  24  sizing,  or  hydraulic,  classifying- 
cones,  which  carry  a  device  for  discharging  the  sand  and  introducing 
the  water,  patented  by  the  writer.  By  its  means  the  admission  of  water 
does  not  result  in  currents  of  varying  velocity,  which  latter  always 
interferes  with  uniform  separation  of  slimes  from  granular  material. 

These  sizing-cones  complete  the  classification,  which  has  been  a 
difficult  problem,  first,  because  of  the  extreme  fineness  of  the  pulp, 
and,  secondly,  because  the  writer  was  determined  to  avoid  double 
treatment,  which  entails  a  largely  increased  installation,  and  operating 
cost,  but  which  is  necessary  unless  a  product  be  obtained  practically 
free  from  slime. 

The  slime-overflow  from  hydraulic  classifiers  had  the  following 
sizing-average  for  1902:  Coarse,  0;  middles,  1.46;  fines,  98.54  per  cent. 
As  regards  all  slimes  referred  to,  they  will  practically  pass  the  200- 
mesh  screen,  the  middles  being  largely  wood-pulp. 

In  fact,  there  is  little  doubt  but  that  the  importance  of  the  most 
perfect  classification  possible  will  be  recognized  shortly  as  a  vital 
consideration  in  the  cyaniding  of  wet,  crushed  ore;  and  metallurgists 
will  not  follow  the  old  German  practice  of  spitzkatsen  and  spitzlutten, 
which  are  very  imperfect  machines  as  compared  with  a  cone-classi- 
fier or  sizer  for  separating  granular  from  flocculent  material.  The 
writer's  judgment  is  that  a  scientific  classification-system,  by  which 


82  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

all  the  granular  or  angular  material  may  go  to  the  leaching  vats,  and 
all  the  amorphous  portion  to  the  slime-plant,  will  in  the  future  be  a 
feature  in  designing  a  plant  on  which  the  greatest  care  and  experi- 
mentation will  be  put,  and  the  highest  grade  of  technical  skill  utilized. 

CYANIDE-TREATMENT. 

By  these  three  steps  in  the  classification  we  have  separated  the 
pulp  into  non-leachable  slimes,  comprising  about  40  per  cent,  of  the  ore 
crushed,  and  practically  all,  passing  a  200-mesh  screen,  and  a  direct- 
leachable  product,  amounting  to,  approximately,  60  per  cent,  of  the 
tailings,  which,  although  very  clean  and  free  from  mud,  is  still  of  a 
very  fine  texture, — as  the  following  sizing-test,  the  average  for  the 
year  1902,  will  show: 

Coarse,  remaining  on  100-mesh,  40.5  per  cent. 

Middles,  100-  to  200-mesh,  30.8  per  cent. 

Fines,  passing  200-mesh,  28.7  per  cent. 

While  this  fineness  is  notable,  we  find  that,  as  the  proportion  of 
lower-level  ore  increases,  we  can  treat  an  even  finer  product.  A  recent 
charge,  containing  as  high  as  40  per  cent,  fines,  maintained  our  normal 
leaching-rate  of  3  to  4  inches  per  hour  through  our  treatment.  This 
is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  fines  from  the  lower-level  rock 
contain  a  greater  proportion  of  angular  or  granular,  and  a  smaller  pro- 
portion of  amorphous,  hydrated  or  flocculent,  material. 

The  leachable  pulp,  which  contains  10  to  12  per  cent,  of  pyrite,  is 
now  ready  to  go  to  the  vats;  and  on  the  way  lime  is  added  in  quanti- 
ties varying  from  3  to  5  pounds  per  ton.  At  first  we  tried  adding  this 
lime  in  the  mills,  as  is  done  in  Africa,  but  found  that  the  amalgamation 
was  .most  seriously  affected  thereby;  not  only  was  the  plate  completely 
coated,  weeks  being  required  to  get  it  back  in  proper  shape,  but  the 
tailings-values  were  largely  augmented.  This  result  only  emphasizes 
the  fact  that  the  process  must  fit  the  ore,  and  that  attempts  to  make 
an  ore  fit  a  process  are  useless.  This  practice  of  adding  lime  to 
the  battery  is,  according  to  the  writer's  information,  unanimously 
pronounced  to  work  the  best  results  in  Africa,  and  to  reduce  the 
values  in  the  slimes  lost  from  amalgamation  to  half  of  what  they  were 
when  no  lime  is  used  in  the  battery.  In  our  case,  however,  we  have 
demonstrated  that  the  best  results  follow  from  crushing  the  lime 
wet  into  a  running  pulp  which  joins  that  from  the  sizing-cones, 
whereby  there  is  less  slacking  and  less  loss  of  flocculent  lime  in 
the  vat  overflow,  i.  e.,  in  the  water  which  overflows  the  vat,  the 
sand  having  settled  out.  Not  only  is  it  of  distinct  advantage  to  have 
our  lime  go  into  the  tank  in  unslacked  granules,  but  recent  investi- 
gations are  proving  that  the  average  size  of  these  granules  has  an 
imporant  bearing  on  the  subsequent  cyanide-decomposition  and  gold- 
extraction.  This  seems  to  be  due  to  the  fact  that  a  low  alkalinity, 
but  one  approximately  constant  throughout  the  leaching,  is  an  im- 
porant desideratum  with  the  Homestake  ore,  on  account  of  its  con- 
siderable content  of  easily-decomposed  sulphides.  We  are  not  as 
yet,  prepared  to  say  what  is  the  very  best  mesh-screen  to  use 
on  our  lime  stamp-battery,  but  at  present  we  are  using  a  wire- 
screen,  the  opening  of  which  is  11-64  sq.  in.  In  this  connection  it 
should  be  said  that  only  the  purest  lime  should  be  used,  the  mag- 
nesia in  the  ordinary  domestic  limestone  being  objectionable  for 
several  reasons. 

The  classified  pulp  and  the  lime  having  commingled,  the  mixture 
passes  to  the  distributor,  which  is  of  the  garden-sprinkler,  or  Butters 
and  Mein  type. 

There  are  two  distributors,  one  for  each  row  of  vats,  hung  from 
a  carriage,  which  travels  on  a  track,  and  the  step  of  which  res/ts 
on  the  top  of  the  center-bottpm  discharge-gate  of  each  vat,  when 
the  distributor  is  in  operation.  There  are  14  vats,  each  44  feet  in 
diameter,  9  feet  deep  inside  and  holding  610  tons  of  sand.  To  fill 
one  of  these  requires  from  eleven  to  eleven  and  one-half  hours,  which 
with  our  equipment,  permits  of  about  five  days'  contact  with  solution, 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  83 

before  it  is  necessary  to  recharge  the  vat.  After  filling,  the  drain- 
valve  is  opened,  the  top  leveled,  and  the  stronger  of  the  two  stock- 
solutions,  of  a  strength  of  0.14  of  1  per  cent.  KCN,  is  run  on.  The 
contact  with  this  solution,  including  frequent  drainages  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drawing  in  air,  is  maintained  for  about  three  days.  The  air- 
contact  is  very  important  in  Homestake  ores,  owing  to  the  presence 
of  pyrrhotite  or  subsulphide  of  iron,  which  absorbs  oxygen  with 
great  avidity,  and  which  would  greatly  retard  the  dissolving  action 
of  the  cyanide-solution  were  not  large  quantities  of  essential  oxygen 
introduced.  The  effluent  solution  during  this  period,  having  nor- 
mally a  strength  of  0.10  of  1  per  cent,  of  cyanide,  is  run  to  the  weak 
precipitation-tanks,  of  which  there  are  two,  each  26  feet  in  diameter 
by  19  feet  deep,  and  holding  300  tons  of  solution. 

After  the  three  days'  contact  with  strong  solution,  the  weak 
solution,  normally  of  a  strength  of  0.10  per  cent  KCN,  is  brought 
into  the  charge,  and  this  contact  is  maintained  for  the  remaining 
two  days.  The  efficient  soluUon  from  the  charge  during  this  period 
is  run  to  the  strong  precipitation  or  rather  collecting-tanks,  which 
are  of  the  same  size  and  number  as  the  weak  precipitation-tanks. 

Fig.  2  shows  the  interior  arrangement  of  the  works. 

After  contact  with  the  weak  solution  has  been  completed,  wash- 
water  is  brought  into  the  charge,  and  the  washing  continued  until 
the  effluent  solution  is  down  to  0.03  or  0.02  of  1  per  cent,  in  KCN 
and  from  5  to  7  cents  per  ton  in  value. 

The  charge  is  now  ready  for  sluicing,  which  operation  is  ac- 
complished by  two  men,  with  3-inch  hose,  in  about  four  hours,  using 
the  slime-water  from  the  overflow  of  the  second  settling-cones.  The 
four  side-gates  and  one  center-gate  afford  ample  facilities  for  the 
discharging.  The  last  inch  or  so  of  the  sand  is  sluiced  with  clear 
water  under  75  pounds  pressure  through  1^-inch  hose;  and  the 
S-ounce  duck  filter,  under  which  is  another  of  cocoa-matting,  is 
washed  clean.  The  vat  is  then  filled  with  water,  and  is  ready  for 
the  next  charging. 

Precipitation — As  stated  above,  the  effluent  solution  resulting 
from  the  leaching  with  strong  solution  is  run  to  the  weak  precipi- 
tation-tanks, and  has  a  value  of,  approximately,  $2  per  ton  and  a 
strength  of  0.10  per  cent.  KCN.  When  one  of  these  weak  precipita- 
tion-tanks is  full,  the  stream  is  turned  to  the  other,  and  the  former 
is  then  ready  for  precipitation.  It  contains  300  tons  of  solution, 
which  is  brought  into  agitation  by  means  of  compressed  air,  and 
about  60  pounds  of  zinc-powder,  in  the  form  of  an  emulsion,  is 
sprayed  in  during  the  agitation.  The  pump,  which  is  of  the  com- 
pound, duplex,  outside-packed,  plunger-type,  is  then  started,  and  the 
mixture  pumped  through  two  large  filter-presses  36  inches  square, 
of  the  flush-plate  and  distance-frame  pattern,  containing  24  frames, 
each  4  inches  in  depth. 

While  the  gold,  silver  and  excess  of  zinc  remain  in  the  frame 
and  on  the  cloth,  the  barren  solution  passes  through  the  cloth  and 
on  to  the  weak  solution  storage-tank  below  (of  the  same  size  as  the 
sand  vats),  whence  it  passes  again  to  the  sand  as  weak  solution. 
Its  value  has  been  reduced  by  this  operation  from  $2  to  5  or  10 
cents  per  ton,  being  a  precipitation  of  95  to  97.5  per  cent.  The 
efficiency  of  this  method  lies  largely  in  the  fact  that  the  cloths  of 
the  presses  are  coated  with  about  %  inch  of  powdered  zinc  and 
precipitate,  so  that  every  particle  of  solution,  having  to  pass  through 
the  cloths,  gets  a  molecular  contact  with  the  fine  zinc,  which  is  true 
of  no  other  precipitation-process.  The  presses  are  run  without  open- 
ing for  a  month,  at  the  end  of  which  the  press-gauges  indicate  about 
10  pounds  pressure,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  then  contain 
about  a  ton  of  precipitate,  worth,  say,  $50,000,  when  they  are  cleaned 
up  by  two  men  in  about  six  hours,  including  the  putting  together  with 
new  cloths.  Figures  covering  the  labor  of  cleaning  up  $50,000 
from  zinc  boxes  and  from  electrolytic  precipitation  would  form  an 
interesting  comparison. 


84  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

We  will  now  return  to  the  effluent  solution,  resulting  from  the 
contact  of  the  tailings  with  weak  solution  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  leaching.  This  is  run  to  the  strong-solution  collecting-vats. 
When  these  are  filled,  they  are  strengthened  to  0.14  per  cent.  KCN 
and  pumped  directly,  without  precipitation,  to  the  strong-solution 
storage-tank,  of  the  same  capacity  as  the  weak  storage,  whence  it 
goes  on  to  the  early  treatment  of  the  charge,  as  before  mentioned. 
Its  value  is  from  30  to  50  cents  per  ton.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
the  strong  solution  of  one  day  becomes  the  weak  solution  of  the 
next  day,  and  that  the  values  are  all  accumulated  in  the  weak 
precipitation-tanks.  The  strong  solution  thus  has  an  approximately 
constant  value,  that  is  to  say,  only  one-half  of  the  total  effluent 
solution  is  precipitated,  the  other  half  being  of  a  constant  low  value. 

Refining  Precipitates. — As  the  refining  of  cyanide  precipitates 
is  of  some  importance,  owing  to  the  well-recognized  losses  taking 
place  in  the  ordinary  methods,  which  are  from  2  to  6  per  cent.,  a 
description  of  the  process  we  use  at  the  Homestake,  in  which  the 
loss  is  less  than  0.1  per  cent.,  may  be  of  interest. 

The  precipitate,  after  removal  from  the  presses,  is  treated 
iirst  with  dilute  hydrochloric  acid  in  a  lead-lined  mixing-tank,  equip- 
ped with  a  mechanical  agitator,  a  hood  and  a  powerful  exhaust- 
fan.  After  agitation  and  settling,  the  supernatant  liquid  is  forced 
through  a  filter-press  by  air-pressure.  Sulphuric  acid  is  then  added, 
agitation  begun,  and  the  mixture  heated.  It  is  then  settled,  and 
the  supernatant  solution  put  through  the  press,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  hydrochloric  acid.  Wash-water  is  then  added  to  the  mixing- 
tank  and  the  whole  mixture  put  into  tthe  press,  where  it  is  further 
washed.  The  aggregate  value  of  the  acid-liquors  and  wash-water 
flowing  from  the  press  is  less  than  $20  from  $50,000  worth  of  pre- 
cipitate. A  portion  of  this  value  is  recovered  from  a  large  settling- 
tank,  into  which  the  effluent  solutions  flow,  and  the  remainder  con- 
stitutes the  only  loss  we  have  been  able  to  find  in  this  process  of 
refining. 

The  resultant,  acid-treated  precipitate  is  then  removed  to  a 
large  steam-dryer,  where  a  part  of  the  moisture  is  expelled,  but 
never  all,  and  the  precipitate  mixed  with  litharge,  borax,  silica  and 
powdered-coke.  When  thoroughly  mixed,  it  is  sprinkled  with  a 
solution  of  lead-acetate  and  the  whole  mass  briquetted  under  a 
pressure  of  4,000  to  6,000  pounds  per  square  inch.  The  zinc  having 
been  removed,  and  the  briquettes  having  been  dried,  a  borax-slag 
develops  upon  the  outer  surface  upon  being  charged  to  the  cupel, 
and  they  fuse  quietly,  quickly  and  at  a  low  heat,  without  dust  or 
volatilization-losses.  The  lead  absorbs  the  values,  sinking  to  the 
bottom,  and  the  slag  is  tapped  off.  All  the  slag  having  been  re- 
moved, the  lead  is  cupelled  off  as  litharge,  and  the  resultant  metal, 
975  to  985  fine,  is  ready  to  run  into  bars.  The  cupel-slag  and  the 
cupel-bottom  are  then  put  through  the  blast-furnace,  the  lead-content 
of  the  slag  reduces  to  lead,  which  absorbs  the  values,  and  is  drawn 
from  the  lead-well  in  the  usual  manner.  This  lead  is  returned  to 
the  cupel  at  the  next  clean-up,  the  litharge  from  the  cupellation 
goes  to  the  next  precipitate,  and  the  blast-furnace  slag  is  worth  less 
than  $5  per  ton.* 

The  total  cost  of  this  refining  amounts  to  less  than  %  of  1  per 
cent.;  so  that  tne  Homestake  Company  realizes  $20.52  per  ounce  for 
its  cyanide-gold,  less  the  usual  U.  S.  Assay  Office  charge  on  dore 
bullion,  and  the  expressage  to  New  York.  These  charges  amount 
to  between  10  and  11  cents;  and  the  net  realization  per  ounce  of 
fine  gold  precipitated  is  thus  $20.42  in  New  York  exchange.  A  part- 
ing-plant is  now  contemplated,  which  will  make  a  further  saving  in 
this  connection  and  enable  the  company  to  turn  out  fine  gold  and 
fine  silver. 


*  The  writer  has  applied  for  patents  covering  this  process,   which  was 
first    carried    out    experimentally     during  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1900. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  85 

TONNAGE,   PERCENTAGE   AND   COSTS. 

Tonnage. — The  maximum  monthly  tonnage  of  this  plant — which 
is  ascertained  by  placing  cubic-foot  boxes  in  many  parts  of  various 
vats,  determining  the  dry-weights  per  cubic  foot  of  sand  and  aver- 
aging a  large  number  of  such  determinations — was  attained  in  Octo- 
ber, 1902,  when  40,236  tons,  or  1,298  tons  per  day,  were  treated.t 
This  gives  to  the  Homestake  Company  the  largest  sand-treatment 
cyanide-plant  in  the  world;  the  next  largest  being,  to  the  best  of 
my  knowledge,  that  of  Simmer  &  Jack  in  South  Africa. 

Percentage. — As  a  comparison  of  the  various  assay-determi- 
nations and  valuations  with  the  bullion  produced  is  always  of  inter- 
est, the  following  figures  for  the  last  half  of  the  year  1902  are  given: 

Extraction. — The  extraction,  as  shown  by  the  difference  between 
charge  and  residue-assay  multiplied  by  the  tonnage,  was  $292,579. 

Precipitation. — The  precipitation,  as  shown  by  the  difference  be- 
tween assays  of  unprecipitated  and  precipitated  solutions  multiplied 
by  the  solution-tonnage,  was  $301,233. 

Gold  in  Precipitates. — The  amount  of  gold  in  precipitates,  that 
is,  the  assay-value  of  the  precipitate  sampled  upon  removal  from 
the  presses,  was  $302,895;  the  gold-value  of  bullion  shipped,  $307,635, 
and  the  silver-value,  $2,874. 

The  average  percentage  recovered  in  bullion  by  the  treatment 
for  these  six  months  is  74.7  per  cent. 

This  is  not  as  high  a  percentage  of  bullion  as  should  be  re- 
covered from  a  porous  or  oxidized  ore,  or  one  in  which  the  values 
are  along  cleavage-planes;  but,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  such  a  high 
percentage  is  recovered  by  amalgamation,  that  the  values  are  very 
finely  disseminated  in  the  Homestake  ore,  and  that  the  tailings  are 
very  low-grade,  we  feel,  and  all  our  tests  so  far  have  verified  our 
conclusions,  that  it  is  the  economic  percentage,  yielding  the  maxi- 
mum net  profit. 

Many  tests  and  experimental  runs  of  the  plant,  looking  toward 
a  greater  net  yield,  have  been  made,  covering  longer  treatment  ( 
stronger  and  weaker  solutions,  extra  oxidation  with  sodium  and 
barium  dioxide,  and  other  similar  reagents,  varying  algalinities  and 
alkaline  reagents,  etc.  The  question  of  separate  treatment  of  con- 
centrates and  coarse  sands  has  also  been  investigated,  all  with 
negative  results.  The  conclusion  of  the  writer  in  regard  to  this  lat- 
ter point  is  that,  even  if  a  higher  net  yield  could  be  realized  by  sepa- 
rate treatment,  which  is  contrary  to  the  results  of  all  our  tests,  a  much 
greater  proportion  of  the  fines  (passing  200-mesh  screen)  would  have 
to  be  thrown  off  and  wasted  entailing  a  serious  net  loss. 

Costs. — As  to  operating  costs  at  the  Lead  cyanide-plant,  the 
following  are  the  averages  per  ton  for  the  year  1902,  during  which 
the  average  value  of  the  material  treated  was  $1.85  per  ton: 

Classification — Labor  and   Supplies    $0.017 

Treatment: 

Cyanide $0.152 

Labor    0.030 

Lime    0.022 

Supplies 0.005 

$0.209  0.209 

Precipitation — Labor  and  Supplies   0.026 

Power — Labor  and  Supplies    0.051 

Water    0.026 

Assaying — Labor   and   Supplies    0.013 

Refining — Labor  and  Supplies    0.006 

Miscellaneous   0.005 

Total   ..$0.353 


t  Since  this  paper  was  written,  another  step  in  the  classifiying  of  the 
pulp  has  been  added,  with  the  result  that  this  plant  is  now  treating  ap- 
proximately 1450  tons  per  24  hours. 


86  OFFICIAL,    PROCEEDINGS 

As  compared  with  the  above,  the  lowest  cost  I  have  seen  authori- 
tatively stated  for  other  plants  are  as  follows: 

City  and  Suburban  South  Africa  $0.55 

Geldenhuis  Estate,  South  Africa  0.605 

Geldenhuis  Deep,  South  Africa 0.62 

Robinson,   South  Africa    0.62 

Worcester,   South  Africa    0.72 

The'  African  costs  refer,  of  course,  to  operations  before  the  late 
war  between  England  and  the  South  African  Republic;  but  they 
are  the  only  figures  available  to  me,  and  I  do  not  think  they  have 
been  -reduced  materially  since. 

As  regards  the  Homestake  slimes,  which  are  not  at  present 
being  treated,  their  assay-value  ranges  from  $0.80  to  $1.10  per  ton, 
which  is  very  much  lower  than  that  of  any  slimes  now  being  cyanided 
elsewhere,  and  which  does  not  offer  much  inducement  to  undertake 
their  hydrometallurgical  treatment  as  a  whole.  It  is  the  writer's 
judgment,  however,  that  a  material  profit,  greater  than  that  at- 
tainable by  any  other  method  of  treating  the  whole  bulk  of  slimes, 
may  be  recovered  by  concentrating  these  slimes  and  cyaniding  the 
concentrates  so  obtained;  and  experiments  on  a  working  scale  will 
shortly  be  undertaken  along  these  lines. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  I  rise, 
sir,  to  make  a  motion  which  I  trust  will  meet  with  the  approval  of 
the  Congress.  We  have  listened  yesterday  to  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury  of  the  United  States;  we  have  listened  today  to  the  director 
of  the  mint.  Both  of  those  positions  have  from  the  foundation  of 
the  government  filled  a  post  most  important  in  the  administration 
of  the  country.  We  have  listened  this  afternoon  to  a  statement 
from  another  member  of  the  administration,  one  of  the  bureaus, 
telling  us  of  the  remarkable  display  that  the  nation  is  to  make  at  the 
St.  Louis  Exposition,  which,  I  presume,  will  be,  Mr.  President,  one 
of  the  largest  and  finest  expositions  that  has  ever  been  held  in 
the  world.  Those  expositions,  I  believe,  took  their  origin  in  the 
Crystal  Palace  of  London  nearly  fifty  years  ago.  Now  that  the 
United  States  are  to  hold  another  exposition  at  St.  Louis  next 
year  which,  I  presume,  will  be  the  largest  that  has  even  been  held. 
There  is  to  be  prepared  then  an  exhibition  of  coal,  which  mineral,  as 
we  have  heard  from  the  paper  this  afternoon,,  is  the  foundation  for 
the  power  that  works  the  great  industry  of  the  country.  I  move 
you,  therefore,  Mr.  President,  that  a  rising  vote  of  thanks  be  pre- 
sented to  Mr.  Parker  for  the  able  paper  he  has  given  to  us  and  the 
thanks  to  him  and  his  colleagues  and  others  that  are  working  for 
the  preparation  that  is  being  made  for  the  exhibit  at  St.  Louis. 

Which  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  stated  by  the  president 
and  unanimously  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  next  subject  on  the  program 
for  this  afternoon  is  by  Dr.  C.  C.  O'Harra,  of  Rapid  City,  South 
Dakota,  on  "The  Geology  and  Mineralogy  of  the  Black  Hills." 

MR.  LYNCH,  OF  MONTANA:  Mr.  President,  inasmuch  as  com- 
plimentary votes  have  been  in  order,  all  of  which  is  certainly  proper, 
I  move  you  at  this  time  that  we  extend  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mfr.  C. 
W.  Merrill,  who  has  just  read  this  very  able  paper  on  the  treatment 
of  Homestake  ores  in  this  state  and  I  move  you  that  the  same  be 
made  by  rising  vote. 

The  motion  v/as  duly  seconded  by  Mr.  Conzette,  of  South  Dakota 
and  on  being  stated  by  the  president  was  unanimously  carried  by 
rising  vote. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  listen  to  the  paper  by 
Mr.  O'Harra. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  87 

THE  GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALOGY  OF  THE  BLACK  HILLS 

REGIOK 

By  Cleophas  C.  O'Harra,  South  Dakota  School  of  Mines,  Rapid 
City,  South  Dakota. 

The  Black  Hills  region  is  in  many  respects  a  typical  geological 
unit.  It  lies  within  the  forks  of  the  Cheyenne  river  on  the  South 
Dakota-Wyoming  boundary  line,  a  much  larger  portion  of  the  area 
being  within  the  state  of  South  Dakota.  Separated  from  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  the  west  and  southwest  by  a  distance  of  less  than 
150  miles  the  region  possesses  many  of  the  lithologic  and  physi- 
ographic features  of  the  great  mountain  system.  Structurally  the 
region  is  an  elliptical  outwardly  dipping  uplift,  the  more  dintinct 
features  of  which  cover  an  area  about  100  miles  long  and  50  miles 
wide,  the  longer  axis  approximately  coinciding  with  the  meridian 
except  in  the  northern  portion  where  the  general  direction  is  to 
the  northwest.  By  reason  of  its  isolated  position,  its  simple  struc- 
tural features  and  the  many  excellent  natural  and  artificial  rock  ex- 
posures the  history  of  the  region  may  be  interpreted  with  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  ease. 

The  general  system  of  drainage  is  distinctly  radial,  this  being 
due  to  the  domestic  nature  of  the  uplift.  The  two  enclosing  arms 
of  the  Cheyenne  river  wholly  isolate  the  Hills  from  other  systems 
of  drainage  and  receive  the  many  smaller  streams  from  the  more 
elevated  portions  of  the  uplift,  a  high  western  limestone  plateau  being 
the  main  divide.  In  certain  places  the  rapid  erosion  of  softer  beds 
has  modified  this  general  radial  arrangement,  a  notable  example 
being  in  the  formation  of  the  well  known  Red  Valley,  which  forms  a 
nearly  continuous  encircling  depression  separating  the  higher  cen- 
tral portions  from  the  distinct  but  less  elevated  Cretaceous  hog- 
back ridges  of  the  foot  hills.  The  more  important  streams  continue 
actively  cutting  their  beds.  Each  lithologic  unit  with  its  particular 
and  sometimes  striking  color  yields  distinctive  topographic  forms 
dependent  upon  relative  capacity  for  resisting  erosion,  the  result 
being  that  in  many  places  features  of  rare  interest  are  produced. 
The  Harney  Peak  area  of  the  Southern  Hills  with  its  bold  pinnacles 
and  walls  of  coarse  bare  granite  rising  from  their  forest-clad  base  of 
metamorphic  rocks  presents  a  beautiful  panorama,  while  the  steep 
walled  canyons  of  Spearfish  Creek  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Hills 
and  of  Elk  creek  in  the  northeastern  part  are  among  the  most 
picturesque  that  America  can  show.  Again  to  the  northwest  in 
Wyoming  where  the  horizontal  sandstones  and  shales  have  been 
intricately  carved  by  the  various  streams  and  where  the  brilliant 
and  varied  colors  of  the  several  formations  harmoniously  blend 
with  a  wealth  of  forest  and  pasture  overlooked  here  and  there  by 
the  stately,  somber  forms  of  porphyry  buttes  there  is  presented  a 
view  well  worth  many  a  hardship  to  see. 

The  prominent  topographic  features  are  a  high  central  basin 
of  granite  and  metamorphic  rocks  of  Algonkian  age,  surrounded  in 
a  concentric  manner  by  a  rugged  infacing  escarpment  of  massive 
white  Carboniferous  limestone,  a  wide  depression  in  the  red  Triassic 
shales  and  a  high  view  of  Cretaceous  hog-back  ridges  or  foot  hills. 
Beyond  these  are  the  later  Cretaceous  shale  formations  which  give 
rise  to  the  gently  undulating  plains.  Farther  away  on  almost  every 
side,  interrupting  the  otherwise  monotonous  approach  to  the  Hills 
there  are  abrupt  tables  and  buttes  of  Tentiary  clays,  large  portions 
of  which  have  been  carved  into  forms  that  bewilder  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  most  fanciful  observer.  In  the  northern  Hills  Tentiary 
intrusive  rocks  have  greatly  modified  the  general  topography  and  in 
not  a  few  instances  have  formed  prominent  landmarks.  Terry  peak, 
situated  near  the  center  of  activity  of  intrusions,  in  the  highest 
point.  It  reaches  an  altitude  of  7,069  feet.  A  few  miles  west  of 
this  is  the  Bear  Lodge  range,  which  culminates  in  Warren  Peaks, 
making  a  subordinate  but  important  center  of  Tentiary  disturbance, 
the  highest  point  being  more  than  6,650  feet  above  sea  level.  Several 


88  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

isolated  igneous  peaks  differing  in  petrographic  and  structural  nature 
only  in  a  varietal  way  form  the  prominent  peaks  of  the  more  in- 
tricately disturbed  districts  already  mentioned,  stand  as  tall  sen- 
tinels among  the  lower  peripheral  ridges.  Chief  among  these  are 
Bear  Butte,  Crow  Peak,  Black  Buttes,  Inyan  Kara,  the  Missouri 
Buttes  and  the  justly  famed  Devil's  Tower.  The  highest  point  within 
the  entire  Black  Hills  region  is  Harney  Peak.  This  is  the  culminating 
peak  of  the  Harney  granite  range  in  the  southern  Hills.  It  -reaches 
a  height  of  7,216  feet.  The  surrounding  limestone  escarpment  rises 
high  above  much  of  the  central  portion  and  considerable  r^reas 
of  the  plateau  along  the  western  side  closely  approach  the  height 
of  Harney  Peak.  The  mean  altitude  of  the  plains  surrounding  the 
Hills  is  little  more  than  3,000  feet.  The  average  elevation  within 
the  hog-back  ridges  is  approximately  5,000  feet. 

The  rocks  of  the  Black  Hills  show  a  wide  range  in  age  and 
character.  Within  the  crystalline  nucleus  are  pre-Cambrian  granites, 
amphibolites,  schists,  slates,  phyllites,  and  quartzites.  Beyond  this 
nucleus  are  limestones,  sandstones,  shales,  and  conglomerates  re- 
presenting a  nearly  complete  sequence  from  Cambrian  to  Laramie. 
Their  combined  thickness  is  approximately  10,000  feet.  Extensive 
overlaps  of  Tentiary  rocks  are  also  present  while  Pleistocene  de- 
posits of  various  kinds  occur  widely  distributed  over  the  surface 
of  the  region.  Silurian  rocks  are  found  in  a  few  localities  but 
are  of  little  importance.  In  the  northern  Hills  there  are  porpbly- 
ritic  rocks  in  great  profusion.  Phonolites,  Rhyolites,  Grorudites, 
Andesites,  Dacites,  Diorites  and  Lamprophynes  are  found  and  their 
recent  careful  study  has  aroused  much  interest  among  petrographers. 
To  the  prospector  and  miner  they  are  of  interest  in  that  their  in- 
trusion has  greatly  influenced  mineralization  and  the  nature  and 
distribution  of  the  igneous  masses  have  to  no  little  extent  been 
the  determining  factor  in  the  occurrence  of  ore  bodies.  Fossiliferous 
beds  are  common  among  the  foot  hills  while  only  a  short  distance 
to  the  southeast  are  the  world-renowned  White  River  bad  lands 
Avith  their  wealth  of  vertebrate  remains. 

The  sedimentary  deposits  which  were  laid  down  subsequent  to 
the  upturning  and  metamorphism  of  the  Algonkian  rocks  have  had 
their  various  characters  properly  denned  by  recent  study,  the  de- 
termined formational  units  receiving  appropriate  individual  names. 
The  formations  with  their  chief  characters,  exclusive  of  the  Tentiary 
and  the  Pleistocene  deposits,  are  as  follows: 

Generalized  section  in  the  Black  Hills  region,  showing  formation, 
character,  average  thickness  in  feet,  and  the  age: 

Laramie,  massive  sandstone  and  shale,  2,500  feet,  Cretaceous. 

Fox  Hills,  sandstone  and  shale,  250 — 500  feet,  Cretaceous. 

Pierre  shale,  dark-gray  shale,  1,200  feet,  Cretaceous. 

Niobrara,  chalk  and  calcareous  shale  100 — 300  feet,  Cretaceous. 
Benton  Group:  — 

Carlile  formation,  gray  shales  with  thin  sandstones,  limestones, 
and  concretionary  layers,  500 — 750  feet,  Cretaceous. 

Greenhorn  limestone,  impure  slabby  limestone,  50  feet,  Cretaceous. 

Granerous  shale,  dark  shale  with  lenses  of  massive  sandstone  in 
its  lower  part  at  some  places,  900  feet,  Cretaceous. 

Dakota  sandstone,  massive  buff  sandstone,  35 — 150  feet,  Cretaceous. 

Fuson,  very  fine-grained  sandstone  and  massive  shale.  White  to 
pure  color,  30 — 100  feet,  Cretaceous. 

Minnewasta  limestone,  gray  limestone,  0 — 30  feet,  Cretaceous. 

Lakota,  massive  buff  sandstone,  with  some  intercolated  shale, 
40 — 350,  Cretaceous. 

Beulah  shale,  pale  grayish-green  shale,  0 — 150,  Jurassic. 

Unkpapa  sandstone,  massive  sandstone:  white,  purple,  red,  buff, 
0—250,  Jurassic. 

Sundance,  dark-drab  shales  and  buff  sandstones;  massive  red 
sandstone  at  base,  60 — 400  feet,  Jurassic. 

Spearfish,  red  sandy  shales  with  gypsum  bed,  250 — 500  feet,  Triassic. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  89 

Opeche,  red  slabby  sandstone  and  sandy  shale,  90 — 130  feet, 
Permian? 

Minnelusa,  sandstone,  mainly  buff  and  red;  in  greater  part  cal- 
cerous.  Some  thin  limestone  included,  400 — 600  feet,  Carboniferous. 

Pahasapa  limestone,  massive  gray  limestone,  200 — 800  feet, 
Carboniferous. 

Englewood  limestone,  pink  slabby  limestone,  25  feet,  Corboniferous. 

Deadwood,  red-brown  quartzite  and  sandstone,  locally  conglom- 
eratic, partly  massive,  4 — 400  feet,  Cambrian. 

The  oldest  rocks  of  the  region  are  the  slates,  schists  and 
quartzites.  They  constitute  the  main  central  area  of  the  Hills. 
Their  dip  approximates  the  vertical  while  their  strike  corresponds 
fairly  well  in  a  general  way  with  the  meridian  line.  The  quartzites 
are  usually  less  easily  eroded  than  the  slates  and  schists,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  they  not  infrequently  stand  out  with  much 
prominence.  This  has  unconsciously  led  many  to  erroneously  desig- 
nate them  as  dikes.  Dark,  basic,  schistose  igneous  bands  occur  in 
many  places  with  the  metamorphic  sedimentaries,  their  general  oc- 
currence being  such  as  to  give  the  impression  of  intercolation  con- 
formable to  the  original  bedding.  These  rocks  have  not  received 
careful  study  but  they  may  be  provisionally  grouped  under  the  name 
"amphibolites."  They  are  commonly  designated  by  the  prospector 
as  diorite  or  hornblende  rock.  Intimately  associated  with  all  of  these 
are  the  granites  of  the  southern  and  central  Hills.  In  the  north- 
western part  of  the  Hills  on  the  South  Dakota-Wyoming  line  an- 
other small  but  important  area  of  granite  is  found.  A  distinct  char- 
acteristic of  nearly  all  this  granite  is  its  extremely  coarse  texture. 
Us  feldspar  quartz  and  mica  and  even  the  less  important  and  non- 
essential  constituents  may  be  frequently  found  in  isolated  cry's- 
talline  masses  of  unprecedented  size.  The  rocks  come  under  the 
variety  of  granites  designated  as  pegmatite  and  as  usual  with  peg- 
matite carries  an  abundance  of  rare  useful  .minerals. 

Following  the  granites  which  are  later  than  the  amphibolites 
but  still  of  Algonkian  age  there  were  no  igneous  intrusions  until 
the  Tentiary.  Then  approximately  coincident  with  the  general  up- 
lift of  the  Black  Hills  region  came  the  igneous  bodies  so  abundant 
in  the  northern  Hills.  These  for  want  of  a  better  collective  term 
are  commonly  designated  as  porphyries.  They  are  generally,  although 
riot  always,  of  a  distinctly  porphyritic  nature,  the  large  crystals 
being  quartz,  or  more  frequently  some  form  of  feldspar  or  occa- 
sionally hornblende  or  biotite,  etc.  To  mention  all  the  localities 
where  these  may  be  found  would  be  for  the  present  occasion  a 
tiresome  task.  The  following  important  mountains  must  suffice: 
Terry  Peak,  Bald  Mountain,  Elk  Mountain,  Ragged  Top,  Devil's  Tower, 
Custer  Peak,  Bear  Butte,  Crow  Peak,  Inyan  Kara,  Sundance  Moun- 
tain and  Warren  Peaks.  Less  prominent  masses  occur  in  great 
profusion  and  few  important  gulches  of  the  region  are  free  from 
good  exposures,  the  structural  details  of  which  may  frequently  be 
determined  with  much  precision.  The  intrusives  occur  in  the  form 
of  dikes,  shocks,  sills  and  laccoliths,  few  regions  showing  them  in 
greater  number  or  to  better  advantage.  Intermediate  and  connect- 
ing stages  of  every  grade  are  found  and  erosion  has  planed  and 
dissected  them  so  carefully  that  the  faithful  observer  may  easily 
read  their  meaning. 

Reviewing  and  collecting  foregoing  facts  with  reference 
to  the  sequence  of  occurrence  of  the  many  phenomena  it  may  be 
said  that  in  Algonkian  time  the  schists  and  quartzites  were  de- 
posited as  sediments  derived  from  land  lying  apparently  either  to 
the  west  or  to,  the  northeast  of  the  position  now  occupied  by  the 
Hills.  Later  these  original  sediments  were  penetrated  by  basic 
eruptives,  at  which  time  more  or  less  metamorphism  and  folding 
were  produced.  Subsequent  to  this  action  the  sedimentary  rocks, 
as  well  as  the  basic  eruptives,  were  ramified  by  quartz  veins,  many 
of  which  are  gold-bearing.  Following  the  eruption  of  the  basic 


90  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

rocks,  and  after  most  or  all  of  the  gold-bearing  quartz  veins  were 
formed,  extensive  granite  intrusions  occurred.  Apparently  at  the 
time  of  the  intrusion  of  the  basic  eruptives  the  slaty  cleavage  was 
produced,  and  approximately  coincident  with  the  granite  intrusions 
the  crystalline  schists  were  developed.  At  some  time  during  the 
middle  or  latter  part  of  the  Algonkian  period  the  sea  shallowed  and 
the  land  rising  above  the  sea  as  an  island,  reached  a  considerable 
height.  The  rocks  thus  brought  under  the  influence  of  erosive  agents 
supplied  much  or  all  of  the  sediments  which  make  up  the  Cambrian 
strata. 

Little  is  known  of  the  conditions  during  Silurian  and  Devonion 
time  ,rocks  of  these  periods  being  absent  in  the  southern  portion  of 
the  uplift  and  very  scantily  represented  in  the  northern  portion. 
Deep  water  prevailed  during  the  early  part  of  the  Carboniferous 
period,  and  although  the  sea  subsequently  shallowed,  apparently 
little  or  no  land  area  existed  near  the  region  until  after  the  period 
closed.  The  Triassic  red  beds,  with  their  included  widely  distributed 
lenses  of  gypsum,  followed  the  extensive  deposition  of  the  nearly 
pure  Permian  limestone,  indicate  a  considerable  uplift  and  general 
shallowing  of  the  sea.  The  shales,  sandstones  and  impure  lime- 
stones of  the  Jurassic  show  considerable  oscillation  and,  on  the 
whole,  further  shallowing  of  the  sea.  The  Cretaceous  rocks,  in- 
cluding as  they  do  a  great  series  of  diversified  strata,  represent 
several  changes  of  conditions.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  fairly 
shallow  seas  existed  in  the  early  and  later  portions  of  the  period, 
while  during  much  of  the  intervening  time  deep  water  prevailed. 

Near  the  beginning  of  Tertiary  time  great  disturbances  took 
place.  The  region  was  lifted  quite  above  the  sea  and  deeply 
trenched  by  outflowing  streams.  Sea  conditions  disappeared,  leav- 
ing the  land  partially  or  wholly  surrounded  by  a  considerable  body  of 
water  in  the  form  of  a  lake.  Approximately  coincident  with  these 
changes  the  Tertiary  igneous  rocks  of  the  northern  Hills  were  in- 
truded among  the  sedimentaries,  and  by  their  subsequent  denuda- 
tion and  degradation  added  their  portion  of  sediment  to  the  sur- 
rounding lake.  The  lake  then  disappeared  and  upon  its  dry  bed 
the  modern  streams  have  trenched  their  way. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  the  unravelling  of  all  these  facts 
is  a  matter  of  much  interest  to  one  desirous  of  knowing  the  pro- 
cesses of  nature's  activities,  and  the  knowledge  gained  by  the  study 
of  the  relation  of  these  facts  to  ore  and  mineral  deposition  is  one 
to  which  much  fruitful  study  might  be  given.  The  Black  Hills  re- 
gion ranks  among  the  important  mineral  producers  of  the  country 
and  well  it  may.  Among  the  ores  and  minerals  already  productive 
or  capable  of  production  the  following  are  of  importance:  Gold, 
copper,  iron,  manganese,  silver  and  lead,  tin,  tungsten,  graphite, 
mica,  Spodumene,  building  stone,  brick  clays,  cements,  coal.  Of 
all  these  gold  is  pre-eminently  the  chief  product.  Its  presence  may  be 
detected  in  almost  every  variety  of  rock  within  the  region  and  work 
able  bodies  are  found  at  many  horizons.  The  following  classification 
gives  the  various  horizons  and  indicates  to  a  certain  extent  the  mode 
of  occurrence  of  the  ores : 

Classification  of  Black  Hills  gold  ores: 

A.  Ores  occurring  with  the  Algonkian  rocks 

1.  In  quartz  veins. 

2.  In  veins  of  auriferous  pyrite. 

3.  In  igneous  dikes,  sheets,  etc. 

4.  In  slate  breccias. 

5.  In  fissure  veins. 

6.  In  mineralized  zones. 

B.  Ores  occurring  within  the  Cambrian  rocks. 

7.  In  the  basal  conglomerate — "cement"  ores. 

8.  In  slates,  sandstones  and  quartzites — "siliceous"   ores. 

C.  Ores  occurring  within  the  Carboniferous  rocks. 

9.  In  brecciated   "verticals"   in   limestones — "siliceous"   ores. 


AMERICAN    MINING-    CONGRESS.  91 

10.  In   massive  limestone — "lime-siliceous"  ores. 
D.     Ores  within  the  Pleistocene  deposits. 

11.  In  high  level  bars — "dry"  placers. 

12.  In  present  strata  beds — "wet"  placers. 

Of  these  deposits  the  placers,  the  cement  ores,  and  the  brec- 
ciated  limestone  verticals  early  yielded  their  most  profitable  returns, 
the  pyrite  veins  have  been  extensively  exploited  only  as  a  source 
of  fluxing  material  for  smelting  operations  while  the  igneous  dikes, 
sheets,  and  slate  breccias,  although  known  to  be  of  occasional  im- 
portance, have  not  received  thorough  attention. 

The  gold-bearing  quartz  veins  are  found  throughout  the  highly 
metamorphic  area  of  the  Hills,  Custer,  Pennington  and  Lawrence 
counties  all  showing  localities  yielding  handsome  values.  This  ore 
is  generally  free  milling  but  there  are  important  exceptions,  the 
difficult  treatment  of  which  has  to  the  present  time  prevented  suc- 
cessful development. 

The  siliceous  and  the  lime-siliceous  ores,  as  they  are  called, 
which  are  so  extensive  in  the  northern  Hills  are  wholly  refractory. 
They  occur  in  the  form  of  shoots  or  channels  within  the  nearly  flat 
lying  sedimentaries  known  as  the  blanket  formations  in  immediate 
connection  with  nearly  vertical  fractures  running  in  a  direction 
parallel  to  the  longer  diameter  of  the  shoots.  The  fractu/res  or 
"verticals,"  as  they  are  frequently  called,  are  generally  slickensided 
and  frequently  form  vault  planes  along  which  more  or  less  move- 
ment has  occurred.  The  ore  shoots  vary  considerably  in  shape  but 
in  the  main  are  greatly  elongated  bodies  having  a  rounded  or  lenticu- 
lar  cross-section.  They  lie  in  a  general  north-south  direction  and 
excepting  certain  irregularities  produced  by  lateral  branches  are 
practically  parallel  with  each  other.  The  structural  relations  are  oc- 
casionally complex.  Folding  is  observed,  faulting  frequently  occurs 
and  the  igneous  intrusions  sometimes  aid  in  concealing  true  strati- 
graphic  relations.  Usually,  however,  the  conditions  are  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  cause  no  serious  hindrance  to  the  proper  development 
of  mining  property.  The  siliceous  ores  are  found  at  various  hori- 
zons within  the  Cambrian,  chief  of  which  is  immediately  above  the 
conglomeratic  quartzite.  The  lime-siliceous  ores,  so  called,  occur 
at  various  horizons  within  the  Carboniferous,  the  chief  position  being 
near  the  top  of  the  massive  white  or  gray  limestone  now  technically 
known  as  the  Pohasappa  formation.  Tertiary  igneous  rocks  have  cut 
and  intercalated  the  Cambrian  and  Carboniferous  strata  to  a  marked 
degree  and  it  is  to  this  acton  either  directly  or  indirectly  that  the 
deposition  of  the  ore  is  due. 

Of  all  the  classes  of  ores  mentioned  that  of  the  impregnated 
zones  has  longest  yielded  large  returns.  The  typical  zone,  the 
Homestake  belt,  has  furnished  approximately  three-fourths  of  tlie 
total  gold  output  of  the  Hills  and  continues  today  to  afford  mare  than 
one-half  the  annual  output.  The  ore  occurs  in  extensive  deposits, 
chiefly  as  low  grade  chloritic  and  amphibole  schists  highly  impreg- 
nated with  quartz  and  is  largely  free  milling. 

Of  mineral  products  in  the  Hills  other  than  gold  copper,  iron, 
manganese  and  tin  have  received  much  attention  but  as  yet  no 
properties  worked  for  them  have  become  steadily  productive.  Copper 
is  found  chiefly  in  the  Algonkian  and  nearly  every  portion  of  the 
Hills  conrial  metamorphic  rocks  disclose  its  presence.  Many  of 
the  properties  are  capped  by  a  heavy  gossan  carrying  more  or  less 
copper  and  in  various  places  where  this  gossan  cap  discloses  consid- 
erable quantities  of  copper  extensive  prospecting  is  being  carried  on. 
As  usual  with  such  deposits  carbonates  oxides,  and  the  native  metal 
are  found  near  the  surface,  while  below  sulphides  occur.  A  zone 
of  enrichment  which  judging  from  other  regions  showing  apparently 
similar  conditions  might  be  confidently  expected  has  not  yet  been 
disclosed.  Only  future  extensive  prospecting  under  favorable  condi- 
tions will  prove  conclusively  the  actual  nature  of  the  deposits. 


92  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

Iron  is  widely  distributed  within  the  slates  and  schists  and  in  the 
southern  and  central  Hills  it  has  received  some  attention.  Distance 
from,  ready  markets  has  thus  far  prevented  its  extensive  exploitation. 

Silver  and  lead  are  found  in  the  Algonkian  metamorphic  rocks  and 
in  the  Cambrian  and  Carboniferous  sedimentaries.  Lead  ores  as- 
sociated with  silver  have  been  mined  in  the  central  Hills  and  at 
Carbonate  and  Galena.  The  character  of  the  ore  bodies  in  the  var- 
ious localities  differ  widely.  They  occur  in  the  Algonkian  in  veins, 
in  the  Cambrian  as  shoots  and  in  the  Carboniferous  as  contact  de- 
posits, the  latter  two  graduating  more  or  less  into  each  other.  In 
the  central  Hills  the  ore  is  closely  associated  with  vein  quartz.  At 
Iron  Hill  is  occupied  a  nearly  vertical  position  along  a  porphyry 
dike  where  it  cut  the  massive  Pohasappa  limestone.  At  Galena  the 
ore  bodies  are  found  in  the  Cambrian,  their  manner  of  occurrence 
being  much  the  same  as  the  Cambrian  siliceous  gold  ores.  They, 
like  the  gold  ores,  are  impregnations  due  to  secretions  from  water 
which  has  gained  access  to  the  easily  replacable  calcareous  mater- 
ials through  numerous  vertical  cracks  or  fissures  produced  perhaps 
approximately  coincident  with  the  intrusions  of  the  Tertiary  igneous 
rocks. 

Tin  is  found  in  the  granites  and  in  the  stream  gravels  of  the  Har- 
ney  Peak  and  the  Nigger  Hill  districts.  The  ore  occurs  in  the  form 
of  cassiterite.  Cupro-cassiterite  occurs  at  the  Etta  mine  near  Key- 
stone and  stannite  has  been  identified,  but  these  last  aside  from 
their  scientific  interest  are  of  no  value  as  thus  far  disclosed  in  the 
region.  The  cassiterite  is  found  in  the  granite  or  crystals  or  masses 
of  all  sizes  up  to  occasionally  several  pounds  weight.  The  minerals 
occur  chiefly  in  a  feldspar  or  muscorite  aggregate  but  is  occasionally 
found  in  a  quartz  muscorite  aggregation  in  quartz  alone.  The  granite 
is  of  a  distinctly  pegmatitic  character  and  where  the  tin  occurs  is  in 
the  nature  of  dike  material.  The  wide  distribution  of  the  cassiterite 
is  readily  conceded  but  the  actual  value  of  the  deposits  is  a  much 
discussed  problem,  the  nature  and  details  of  which  have  been  so 
often  touched  upon  that  there  is  no  need  at  this  time  to  offer  opin- 
ions upon  the  subject. 

Wolframite  or  Tuysten  as  it  is  frequently  called  is  one  of  the 
most  recent  minerals  to  enter  the  list  of  Black  Hills  metallic  -pro- 
ducts. This  has  been  long  recognized  in  small  amounts  in  the 
granites  of  Custer  and  Pennington  counties,  but  four  years  ago  it  was 
observed  in  quantity  in  Lawrence  county,  closely  associated  with 
the  Cambrian  siliceous  gold  ores.  The  chief  occurrences  are  near 
Lead  and  Yellow  creek. 

This  extremely  brief  review  of  the  metallic  minerals  brings  us 
to  the  nonmetallic  products.  These  are  of  great  interest  and  they 
could  readily  lend  themselves  to  extended  discussion.  Publications 
now  readily  accessible  describe  these  in  detail  however,  and  they 
need  receive  little  more  than  enumeration  at  this  time.  Graphite  occurs 
in  the  slate  and  schists  in  quantity  but  as  yet  of  uncertain  value. 
Mica  in  the  Harney  Peak  granite  has  long  been  worked  and  still 
receives  prominent  attention.  Spodumene,  also  from  the  Harney 
Peak  granite,  especially  near  Keystone,  is  extensively  worked  for 
its  lithia  content.  It  is  well  to  state  and  of  interest  to  remember 
that  this  mineral  occurs  in  crystals  of  unprecedented  size,  no  other 
place  in  the  world  so  far  as  known  showing  crystals  of  any  sub- 
stance comparable  in  size  to  the  spodument  crystals  of  the  Key- 
stone district. 

Building  stone  is  abundant.  Few  of  the  geological  formations 
are  wholly  lacking  in  minerals  fairly  suitable  for  building  purposes 
and  several  of  them  can  supply  good  stone  in  unlimited  quantity. 
Thus  far  the  Dakota,  the.  Lakota  and  the  Unkpapa  sandstones  have 
received  most  attention.  They  are  readily  accessible,  are  durable, 
and  are  otherwise  suitable  for  structural  purposes.  Brick  clays 
and  cements  are  abundant  and  easily  secured.  Coal  is  found  in 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  93 

the  lower  part  of  the  Lakota  along  the  western  and  northwestern 
edge  of  the  Hills  in  Wyoming,  it  having  been  mined  for  several 
years  near  Newcastle  and  at  Aladdin. 

This  briefly  and  inadequately  is  a  summary  of  the  geology  and 
mineralogy  of  the  Black  Hills.  In  concluding  my  paper  I  would  add 
testimony  to  that  of  many  another  before  me  that  the  Black  Hills 
region  is  truly  a  land  of  wealth  and  beauty  a  most  interesting  part 
of  nature's  great  store  house  where  men  may  seek  with  profit  the 
material  necessities  of  life  and  where  they  may  not  find  lacking 
those  things  which  gratify  the  mental  nature  and  which  tend  to  lead 
to  nobler  living. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  This  closes  the  exercises  of  the  af- 
ternoon as  provided  by  your  program  committee.  Wlhat  is  your 
further  pleasure? 

MR.  JACKSON,  OF  IDAHO:  Mr.  President,  I  have  a  resolution 
here  that  I  should  like  to  have  read  and  referred  to  the  committee 
on  resolutions,  being  a  resolution  entitled,  "A  Resolution  as  to 
Mineralized  Timber  Lands." 

The  resolution  was  read  by  the  secretary  and  by  the  president 
referred  to  the  committee  on  resolutions. 

MR.  MOORE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  I  move  you 
that  by  rising  vote  we  extend  Professor  O'Harra  a  vote  of  thanks  for 
his  highly  interesting  and  instructive  paper  upon  the  geology  and 
mineralogy  of  the  Black  Hills. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  and  un- 
animously carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  secretary  will  read  another  reso- 
lution by  Mr.  James  W.  Abbott,  of  Colorado,  which,  when  read,  will 
be  referred  to  the  committee  on  resolutions. 

COLONEL  THORNBY,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President, 
I  move  that  this  Congress  extend  its  thanks  to  Mr.  Blatchford  for 
his  very  excellent  paper,  by  rising  vote. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  and  un- 
animously carried. 

MR.  C.  L.  DIGNOWITY,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA:  Mr.  President, 
I  desire  to  offer  a  resolution  with  reference  to  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  of  five  of  our  active  members,  to  be  selected  by  our  chair, 
to  derive  means  by  which  suitable  men  be  employed  to  visit  all  mining 
camps  and  organize  local  mining  organizations  to  cooperate  with  this 
congress  in  obtaining  paid  members. 

The  resolution  was  read  by  Secretary  Mahon  and  by  the  president 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Program  Committee,  Mr.  Elder,  of  South 
Dakota,  announced  the  program  for  tomorrow,  September  10.  1903. 

MR.  C.  L.  DIGNOWITY,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA:  Mr.  President, 
in  presenting  my  resolution  which  was  turned  over  to  the  committee, 
I  was  going  to  ask  them  to  waive  that  and  allow  the  chair  to  appoint 
that  committee  in  order  to  expedite  matters;  some  of  the  members 
are  going  away  and  we  would  like  to  have  some  of  those  members  here 
to  help  us  out.  I  feel  as  though  our  President  has  presented  us  with 
such  an  earnest  request  to  attend  to  these  matters  that  we  ought  to 
take  heed  and  hurry  the  matter  along. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  How  soon  did  you  say  you  would  like 
that  committee  appointed? 

MR.  C.  L.  DIGNOWITY:  I  would  like  to  have  the  chair  appoint 
that  committee,  if  it  is  in  accord  with  the  wishes  of  the  Congress,  now 
and  not  wait  to  refer  it  to  the  Committee. 


94  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  would  like  a  little  time  to  think  over 
the  matter  because  we  would  require  men  of  special  fitness  for  that 
work,  and  I  would  like  to  have  some  suggestions  from  others.  I  could 
possibly  announce  the  committee  Friday  morning  so  that  we  could 
get  men  of  qualification  to  serve  on  that  committee,  it  is  not  everyone 
that  can  serve. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  chair  appoint  such  committee 
and  that  he  report  the  membership  of  such  committee  at  the  Friday 
meeting. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  to  that  motion 
we  will  consider  it  carried  and  the  chair  will  so  appoint  and  announce. 

MR.  TARBELL,  OF  COLORADO:  I  move  that  we  adjourn  until 
8  o'clock  this  evening. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  upon  being  stated  by  the 
President  was  carried  and  the  Congress  adjourned  to  8  o'clock  P.  M., 
to  meet  at  the  Golden  Star  Club,  of  Lead,  South  Dakota. 

Lead,  South  Dakota,  September  9,  1903,  8  P.  M. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Congress  will  be  in  order.  We  have 
on  our  program  an  address  by  the  Honorable  John  L.  Webster,  of 
Omaha,  Nebraska,  his  subject  being  "The  Money  Metals  and  Their 
Influence  Upon  Civilization." 

HON.  JOHN  L.  WEBSTER:  "Money,  which  represents  the  prose 
of  life,  and  which  is  hardly  spoken  of  in  parlors  without  an  apology, 
is  in  its  effects  and  laws  as  beautiful  as  roses."  So  said  the  American 
philosophical  seer  of  a  generation  ago;  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil.  But  one  who 
has  deeply  studied  the  history  of  civilization,  and  whose  writings  are 
recognized  as  standard  everywhere,  Henry  Thomas  Buckle,  said  that 
"after  the  love  of  knowledge  there  is  no  one  passion  which  has  done 
so  much  good  to  mankind  as  the  love  of  money." 

Wealth  is  power.  Gold  is  the  standard  of  its  measurement.  Com- 
forts and  luxuries  are  its  attendants;  supremacy  in  trade  and  com- 
merce its  achievement.  Wherever  there  is  found  a  wealthy  nation, 
there  is  progress  and  advancement.  Such  is  the  United  States  with 
her  ninety-four  billions  of  wealth,  and  countless  gold  in  her  treasury. 
One  of  her  chief  sources  of  security  is  the  money  metals  buried  in  her 
mountains,  which  the  energy  and  toil  of  her  industrious  and  venture- 
some men  are  daily  bringing  forth,  to  enrich  the  people  and  to  make 
possible  further  resulting  achievements  for  the  betterment  of  mankind. 

Gold  discoveries  are  the  advance  guard  of  civilization.  They  are 
attended  by  phenomenal  tides  of  emigration.  Multitudes  of  people  of 
all  classes  and  all  languages,  in  all  countries  and  in  all  ages,  have  left 
their  old  homes  and  wandered,  amid  hardships  and  dangers,  over  lands 
and  over  seas  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  where  the  money 
metals  have  been  found.  In  their  zeal,  when  necessary,  the  sword  has 
made  the  roadway  against  resisting  forces.  They  have  carried  on 
devastating  and  merciless  wars  against  ignorant  and  semi-barbarous 
people,  dignified  by  historians  under  the  name  of  conquests. 

Cortez  and  Pizarro  were  typical  leaders  of  such  destroying  forces, 
but  the  gold  of  Mexico  and  Peru  brought  back  life  to  decaying  south- 
ern Europe,  and  opened  the  way  for  the  outgoing  of  one  race  and  the 
incoming  of  another;  for  the  new  peopling  of  a  hemisphere  that  had 
existed  from  the  beginning  of  time  in  the  darkness  of  world  isolation. 

But  after  all — no  matter  how  cruel  the  means  or  destroying  the 
process,  or  destructive  the  forces — the  old  race  of  people  gave  place 
to  the  invader,  and  a  new  civilization  spread  over  the  land  and  over 
the  new  continent;  in  North  America  an  Anglo  Saxon  civilization, 
"making  the  deserts  and  waste  places  to  blossom,  cities  to  rise  amid 
the  solitude,  and  seas  whose  virgin  waters  had  hardly  been  stirred 
by  a  single  prow,  to  grow  white  with  the  sails  of  golden  argosies." 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 


[ERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  95 

To  us,  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
California  presents  a  more  interesting  series  of  social  and  political 
events  and  more  wonderful  material  and  industrial  changes.  In  the 
colonial  period  of  our  history,  the  money  metals  were  scarce.  The 
cheap  and  bulky  and  inconvenient  devices  at  times  resorted  to  to 
represent  money  made  trade  difficult  and  commerce  almost  impossible. 
It  seems  surprising  to  us  now,  but  was  not  strange  then,  that  such 
statesmen  as  Edmund  Randolph,  James  Madison  and  John  Dickinson 
suggested  to  the  Federal  Convention  in  1787  to  insert  a  clause  in  the 
Constitution  to  measure  the  salaries  of  the  President  and  Senators  by 
the  value  of  so  many  bushels  of  wheat.  From  that  period  to  the  dis- 
covery of  gold  in  California  in  1847,  a  period  of  sixty  years,  the 
aggregate  output  of  gold  in  the  United  States  was  limited  to  $24,000,- 
000,  and  the  growth  of  the  population  from  about  five  to  twenty 
millions. 

From  Jamestowfi  and  Plymouth  to  1847 — from  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board to  the  Missouri  River — marked  the  limit  of  the  progress  of  our 
people  through  a  period  covering  more  than  two  centuries  of  time, 
After  1847,  when  Marshall  had  discovered  the  glittering  dust  in  the 
raceway  of  Sutter's  mill — when  gold  began  to  be  turned  up  like  clods 
of  earth  or  washed  from  sands  deposited  by  mountain  torrents — civ- 
ilization began  to  sweep  over  the  plains,  the  Rockies,  the  Sierras'  and 
down  the  valley  of  the  Sacramento  to  the  sea.  Soon  the  Californians 
boasted  while  they  were  taking  out  $40,000,000  of  gold  in  1849  and 
$65,000,000  in  1853,  that  her  valleys  laughed  with  fertility;  that  cul- 
ture climbed  .her  mountains;  and  that  the  commerce  of  the  world  was 
represented  in  her  harbors.  On,  and  on,  went  the  changes  until  each 
rising  sun  now  greets  the  faces  of  20,000,000  of  people  west  of  the 
Missouri  River;  a  prosperous  and  happy  and  industrial  people;  with 
farms  and  villages  and  towns  and  cities;  with  schools  and  colleges 
and  universities;  with  museums  of  art,  and  evidences  of  refinement 
everywhere;  an  Empire  that  has  moved  the  center  of  the  country's 
social,  commercial  and  political  gravity  many  degrees  westward,  and 
presents  untold  possibilities  for  the  future. 

The  immense  gold  output  of  California  soon  stimulated  thousands 
of  prospectors  and  adventurers  to  search  the  whole  region  of  moun- 
tains extending  from  Mexico  to  the  Canadian  line  for  the  precious 
money  metals.  Soon  gold  was  discovered  in  Colorado  and  silver  in 
Nevada.  Pikes  Peak  and  Virginia  City  became  names  as  familiar  as 
New  York  and  Boston. 

Then  the  mountains  of  Utah  disclosed  gold  and  silver,  and  Mon- 
tana_ jajas  added  in  the  sixties  with  her  gold  and  copper.  The  cities 
of  "Salt  Lake  and  Butte  and  Helena  became  familiar  as  the  homes 
of  mining  kings,  and  San  Francisco  the  city  where  they  built  their 
palaces.  But  the  daring  spirits  of  men  were  not  yet  tired,  and  the 
Black  Hills  were  explored — this  group  of  mountains  standing  out 
alone,  as  if  nature  buried  within  them  her  richest  treasures  and  then 
heaved  them  up  above  the  plain  to  attract  the  attention  of  men — and 
lie-re  were  found  the  out-croppings  of  millions  upon  millions  of  tons 
of  gold  ores.  Now  Deadwood  and  Lead  are  as  well  known  to  the 
country  as  St.  Louis  and  Philadelphia. 

From  all  these  gold  fields,  from  1847  to  1903,  the  aggregate  of  the 
output  of  the  money  metals  reached  such  momentous  proportions  that 
it  surpassed  the  understanding  and  comprehension  of  men.  Those 
sixty  years  have  witnessed  important  movements,  oft  forgotten  but 
which  need  only  be  suggested  to  be  remembered,  and  which  changed 
the  social  and  political  character  of  the  Nation. 

The  gold  hunters  and  that  vast  throng  of  sturdy  pioneers  who 
peopled  the  western  coast  were  men  who  had  endured  indescribable 
hardships  as  they  slowly  journeyed  through  the  almost  impassable 
fastnesses  and  frowning  canyons  of  the  Rockies.  They  breathed  the 
air  of  freedom  from  the  mountains  and  were  inspired  by  the  ever 
restless  waters  of  the  Pacific  as  an  emblem  of  liberty.  These  men 
believed  that  slavery  and  nature  were  at  war,  and  in  1850  brought 


96  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

California  into  the  Union  as  a  free  state.  The  equilibrium  between 
the  North  and  the  South,  between  the  free  states  and  the  slave  states, 
which  the  southern  statesmen  had  so  long  endeavored  to  preserve 
was  thus  forever  broken. 

Then  followed  a  chain  of  resulting  circumstances,  in  every  link  of 
which  may  be  seen  evidences  of  forces  which  the  searchers  for  the 
money  metals  had  directly  or  indirectly  put  in  motion,  and  which 
coupled  with  American  high  ideals  of  citizenship  worked  out  wonder- 
ful results  for  the  betterment  of  humanity  and  the  strengthening  of 
the  Union. 

With  slavery  forbidden  within  the  confines  of  California,  its 
lodgment  anywhere  along  the  Pacific  coast  line  became  an  impossibil- 
ity. There  soon  followed  the  Southern  agitation  for  an  extension  or 
enlargement  of  slave  territory,  and  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise. The  North  and  the  South  threw  down  the  gauntlet  and 
fought  a  political  duel  for  the  possession  of  Kansas.  The  lovers  of 
manhood  rights,  from  New  England  to  the  mining  camps  of  the  West, 
joined  hands  in  the  struggle.  Higher  ideals  of  citizenship  again  pre- 
vailed and  another  free  state  was  added  to  the  Union. 

The  political  strife  now  assumed  national  proportions.  The  Demo- 
cratic Convention  at  Charleston  witnessed  the  wrecking  of  that  party 
over  the  slavery  question  and  which  split  it  asunder  on  sectional  lines. 
Thousands  of  people  with  fevered  brains  and  throbbing  hearts  warmly 
greeted  a  Republican  -President  as  he  stood  on  the  portico  of  the  Cap- 
itol announcing  an  administrative  policy  of  Union  and  Love.  But  the 
South  was  alarmed  and  doubted  and  refused  the  olive  branch  of  peace. 
A  civil  war  ensued;  slavery  was  overthrown;  the  government  was  re- 
established on  a  firmer  basis  than  before,  and  the  "mystic  chords  of 
memory"  now  "swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union." 

But  let  us  look  back  at  the  West  again.  The  metals  that  were 
washed  from  the  beds  of  her  streams  and  dug  from  the  depths  of  her 
mountains,  made  money  more  abundant  and  lightened  the  burdens  of 
the  people.  Prosperity  is  the  mother  of  contentment,  and  it  shed  over 
them  the  sunshine  of  happniess.  As  her  resources  increased  there 
followed  wealth  and  power  and  confidence.  New  needs  were  created 
which  required  new  industries  and  new  means  and  new  channels  to 
supply  them.  Cities  and  towns  were  springing  up  in  gulches  and  canyons. 
New  railroads  crossed  the  plains,  and  climbed  the  slopes  and  tunnelled 
the  summits,  and  the  sudden  growth  of  new  mileage  was  so  enormous 
that  it  astonished  the  capitalists  of  Europe.  And  with  it  all  the  mental 
horizon  of  the  American  people  was  broadened  and  the  circle  of  their 
interests  and  activities  enlarged. 

Again  new  fields  must  be  explored  by  skillful  and  hardy  and 
adventurous  men,  possessing  not  only  acuteness  of  observation  but 
adaptablity  for  the  work  by  practical  experience  in  the  West.  It  was 
a  miner,  who  had  had  experience  in  California,  who  first  discovered 
gold  in  Australia  in  18  51^  and  thence  followed  that  immigration  that 
brought  that  far-off  island  continent  under  the  white  man's  civilization 
and  made  it  valuable  as  a  province  or  a  federation  under  the  British 
Dominion. 

We  will  not  stop  to  speak  of  British  Columbia  or  Nova  Scotia  or 
Mexico  or  Central  or  South  America  for  they  are  of  but  passing  interest 
when  compared  with  the  zeal  that  bordered  on  frenzy,  that  induced 
men  to  face  cold  and  pestilence  and  hunger  under  the  magnetic  attrac- 
tion of  gold  hunting  through  the  desolate  regions  to  the  Klondike  in 
1896,  and  the  barrenness  of  Nome  in  1899.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
quest  and  discovery  of  the  money  metals,  Australia  would  probably 
have  remained  for  many  generations  an  unprogressive  retreat  for  pas- 
toral settlers  and  exiled  convicts,  and  Alaska  an  unexplored  region  for 
the  wandering  Indians  and  her  Ocean  waters  the  playground  for  the 
seals. 

But  the  money  metals  are  found  in  other  lands  than  ours.  A  trans- 
formation is  going  on  in  Africa,  more  slowly  but  little  less  remarkable, 
than  that  which  went  on  in  America  from  the  days  of  the  disappear- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  97 

ance  of  the  Aztec  races  to  the  founding  of  an  American  Republic. 
Between  the  days  when  we  used  to  read  of  the  explorations  of  Living- 
stone and  Stanley  in  "Darkest  Africa,"  and  the  year  of  1898  when  sixty 
millions  of  gold  was  taken  from  the  "Rand,"  the  gloom  of  obscurity 
was  lifted  from  that  southern  continent.  Civilized  men  rushed  into  it 
from  every  country  in  Europe,  and  the  trading  instincts  of  every  com- 
mercial nation  of  the  earth  entered  its  borders.  The  riches  of  the 
Transvaal  and  the  Orange  Free  State  presented  untold  possibilities  of 
wealth  to  the  adventurous  and  the  timid  alike,  and  quickly  excited  an 
avaricious  cupidity  which  led  to  the  war  that  gave  Great  Britain  the 
supremacy  of  the  continent.  She  already  owned  2,800,000  square  miles 
of  territory  in  Africa,  and  as  a  consequence  of  the  war  she  added  to 
herself  the  lands  of  two  nations,  whose  enormous  beds  of  the  money 
metals  promise  within  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  production  of  three 
billions  of  gold.  Under  such  prosperous  conditions  the  civilization  of 
Europe  and  America  with  all  their  beneficent  and  elevating  influences 
will  take  possession  of  Africa,  and  it  will  no  longer  remain  a  dark  and 
waste  place  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

Lord  Kitchener,  after  surveying  the  interest  of  Great  Britain  in 
Africa,  said:  "England  has  the  making  of  a  new  America  in  the 
southern  hemisphere."  He  was  partly  right,  for  the  changes  have 
begun  by  which  the  desert  plains  and  uplands  and  the  water  highways 
of  that  dark  continent  will  be  opened  to  universal  commerce  and  to  a 
better  citizenship.  But  Lord  Kitchener  was  partly  wrong,  for  in  no 
land,  on  any  continent,  in  any  hemisphere  are  found  such  boundless 
opportunities  for  enterprising  people  as  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica. We  have  more  agreeable  lands,  richer  soils,  better  water  ways 
and  more  capacious  ocean  harbors.  "Wfe  have  lands  which  produce 
the  products  to  feed  and  the  materials  to  clothe  the  millions.  We  have 
untold  sources  of  wealth  in  lumber  and  in  every  variety  of  mineral 
ores  that  make  possible  those  artificial  productions  that  have  already 
made  the  United  States  the  richest  and  the  greatest  of  the  manufac- 
uring  and  commercial  nations.  Notwithstanding  the  great  possibili- 
ties for  Africa,  the  United  States  will  draw  unto  herself  more  than  the 
lion's  share  of  the  gold  that  shall  come  from  the  Transvaal. 

America  with  her  trans-continental  railways  has  excited  the 
emulation  of  Great  Britain  and  Russia.  The  Cape-to-Cairo  Railway  of 
Africa  and  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Vlad- 
ivostok will  do  for  these  countries  what  the  building  of  the  Union 
Pacific  did  for  the  western  half  of  America.  The  north  of  Asia  will 
soon  have  a  new  awakening.  The  Empire  of  Russia,  whose  popula- 
tion in  a  century  has  grown  from  thirty  to  one  hundred  and  forty  mil- 
lions of  people  is  becoming  a  power  in  the  world's  controversies.  Her 
civilization  may  be  medieval,  and  her  industrial  system  may  be 
archaeic,  but  her  determined  purpose  of  expansion  and  her  resistless 
ambition  for  power  make  her  an  international  factor  that  must  be 
consfdered  and  consulted  in  every  movement  in  the  Orient.  Her 
future  is  big  with  possibilities  of  social  and  industrial  and  commercial 
changes. 

The  auriferous  region  of  Siberia  will  ere  long  attract  another  rush 
of  gold  searchers  to  her  bleak  solitudes,  and  the  wizard  gold  will 
eventually  people  with  civilized  men  the  heart  of  Upper  Asia  and  bring 
mankind  back  to  the  "cradle  of  its  race."  The  gold  that  has  been 
found  in  Africa  and  the  gold  that  will  be  found  in  Asia  will  be  the 
companions  of  civilization  in  these  progressive  movements  of  the 
human  race. 

But  here  again  our  thoughts  are  irresistably  drawn  to  the  west 
of  our  country.  The  ocean  that  washes  our  western  shores  reaches 
to  the  east  coast  line  of  the  Orient,  connecting  the  newest  of  the 
new  world  with  the  oldest  of  the  old.  Wh'en  we  shall  have  more  Amer- 
ican ships  upon  this  western  sea,  and  a  larger  mingling  of  American 
golden  civilization  with  Mongolian  races,  the  commercial  tonnage  that 
will  be  floated  on  the  Waters  of  the  Pacific  shall  surpass  in  value  and 
abundance  the  transportation  across  the  Atlantic. 


98  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

More  than  two  hundred  years  ago,  the  man  whose  name  had  been 
honorably  associated  with  the  commencement  of  a  new  era  in 
English  commerce,  and  who  devised  the  accepted  plan  of  the  Bank  of 
England,  dreamed  of  the  opulence  and  wealth  that  would  flow  into 
the  laps  of  an  enterprising  and  intelligent  people  who  would  take 
possession  of  Darien  and  construct  across  the  isthmus  a  commercial 
highway.  In  his  enthusiasm  he  was  wont  to  say  that  "who  ever  pos- 
sessed that  door  of  the  sea,  that  key  of  the  universe  *  *  *  * 
would  give  law  to  both  hemispheres";  that  Darien  would  become  a 
vast  warehouse  for  the  wealth  which  would  be  poured  into  it  "from 
Canton  and  Siam,  from  Ceylon  and  Moluccas,  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Ganges  and  the  Gulf  of  Cambay." 

But  the  -realization  of  the  hopes  and  desires  of  William  Paterson 
were  not  to  come  in  his  day.  The  fates  of  time  postponed  the  act 
of  connecting  the  two  oceans,  until  in  this  our  day,  the  building  of 
the  Isthmian  canal  shall  give  to  the  United  States,  the  command  of 
the  commerce  of  the  seas.  But  before  that  great  work  shall  have  been 
completed,  there  will  come  floating  through  the  Golden  Gate  and  into 
the  harbor  at  Seattle,  an  ocean  trade  from  the  lands  of  the  Orient 
richer  in  wealth  and  of  far  greater  magnitude  than  the  Scotchman  pre- 
dicted or  the  fancy  of  Macauly  could  paint. 

But  there  is  more  in  the  civilization  of  the  West  than  the  mere 
search  for  gain  or  the  conquest  of  wealth.  There  are  in  it  ideals  of 
life  as  characteristic  of  the  people  as  is  their  progressive  spirit.  I 
dare  not  say  in  words  of  my  own  all  that  I  feel  and  all  that  I  believe 
as  to  the  future  of  our  West.  May  I  not  borrow  the  words  spoken 
but  a  few  years  ago  by  a  senator  from  Massachusetts;  "Our  brethren 
and  our  children  have  done  in  the  West  what  our  fathers  did  in  the 
East.  Under  new  conditions,  in  a  later  age,  on  the  shores  of  a  more 
pacific  sea,  in  a  more  genial  clime,  they  are  to  repeat  in  the  near 
future,  the  old  and  wondrous  story.  The  world  shall  see  in  that  far 
clime  the  streets  of  a  wealthier  New  York;  the  homes  of  a  more  cul- 
tured Boston;  the  halls  of  a  more  learned  Harvard;  the  workshops  of 
a  busier  Worcester." 

Nlo  class  of  people  recognize  better  than  we  do,  and  none  are  more 
sensibly  touched  by  the  thought  that  we  are  all  parts  of  one  common 
country,  and  that  whatever  shall  add  to  the  prosperity  of  the  whole 
nation  wakes  the  strongest  appeal  to  our  highest  sense  of  duty  and 
strengthens  in  us  the  loyal  bonds  of  patriotism  and  unity.  Wfe  are 
lovers  of  education,  broad  in  purpose,  ennobling  in  character,  sweet- 
ening and  broadening  the  lives  and  work  of  men,  which  is  the  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  American  national  life. 

But  I  would  commend  to  our  eastern  friends  the  reading  of  the 
following  statement  from  John  Morley,  "Great  economic  and  social 
forces  flow  with  a  tidal  sweep  over  the  communities  that  are  only 
half  conscious  of  that  which  is  befalling  them.  Wise  statesmen  are 
those  who  foresee  what  time  is  thus  bringing,  and  endeavor  to  shape 
institutions  and  to  mold  men's  thought  and  purpose  in  accordance  with 
the  change  that  is  silently  surrounding  them." 

John  Morley  was  not  thinking  of  our  West  when  he  wrote  those 
sentences,  but  how  aptly  they  fit  the  changes  that  the  West  is  vigor- 
ously, actively  and  surely  working  in  the  social,  political,  industrial 
and  commercial  conditions  of  the  United  States.  I  wish  I  could  have 
our  eastern  friends  understand  how  boundless  are  the  opportunities, 
how  measureless  are  the  resources  in  that  area  of  country  between  the 
Missouri  River  and  the  Pacific,  and  how  enterprising  and  progressive 
the  people  that  built  up  the  Empire  of  the  West  since  the  discovery  of 
gold  in  California. 

Decades  in  the  life  of  a  nation  are  as  nothing.  This  Republic, 
grand  and  glorious  as  she  is,  has  just  started  on  her  career.  The 
future  before  her  is  vast,  dim  and  immeasurable.  "Nature  is  omnipot- 
ent, nations  must  float  with  the  tide."  But  whether  she  is  passing 
through  the  darkness  and  storms  of  uncertain  conflicts,  or  moving 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.-         °r 


under  all  the  splendor  of  the  golden  sunshine  of  peace  and  prosperity, 
the  West  and  the  East  shall  be  forever  one. 

HON.  E.  W.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  I 
am  sure  I  voice  the  sentiment  of  all  present  when  I  follow  the  preced- 
ent we  have  established  today  in  remembering  our  distinguished 
visitors  and  I  therefore  move  that  we  express  our  pleasure  for  this 
excellent  address  of  Mr.  Wtebster,  by  rising  vote  of  thanks. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  stated  by  the  President  and  unanimous- 
ly carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Any  matter  that  pertains  to  the  bus- 
iness of  the  Congress  is.  now  in  order. 

HON.  E.  W.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  would  like  to 
announce  that  there  will  be  a  meeting  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
at  10  o'clock  tomorrow  forenoon  in  the  Business  Men's  Club  in  Dead- 
wood.  It  is  not  desired  that  this  shall  interfere  with  any  of  the  pro- 
gram for  tomorrow  and  of  course  it  will  not  with  the  visit  to  the  Home- 
stake  mine,  which,  I  understand  will  be  in  the  afternoon,  but  numerous 
resolutions  have  been  referred  which  we  have  not  had  an  opportunity 
to  examine  and  we  would  like  a  meeting  of  that  committee  tomorrow 
and  I  wish  the  Secretary  would  read  the  list  of  the  members  of  this 
Committee,  as  I  think  some  have  not  been  informed  that  they  have 
been  appointed. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  the  list  of  members  of  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions. 

HON.  E.  W.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  the 
committee  on  resolutions  asked  me  to  ask  an  instruction  of  this  body 
and  while  I  did  not  expect  to  do  so  until  some  subsequent  meeting,  I 
am  reminded  by  a  member  of  the  committee  that  perhaps  this  was  a 
timely  opportunity  as  we  appear  to  be  out  of  business  at  the  present 
time.  Numerous  resolutions  have  been  referred  to  us;  some  of  those 
resolutions  pertain  plainly  to  matters  of  mines  and  mining,  either 
directly  or  remotely,  some  of  them  have  no  possible  connection  with 
the  subject  of  mines  and  mining  at  all  and  the  committee  would  like 
instructions  from  the  Congress  as  to  whether  it  is  the  desire  of  the 
Congress  that  this  committee  shall  consider  seriously  and  pass  upon, 
either  by  recommending  or  refusing  to  recommend,  resolutions  that 
have  no  connection  with  the  subjects  of  mines  and  mining,  either 
directly  or  remotely. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  you  will  permit  the  chair  to  make 
a  suggestion — if  you  will  remember  correctly,  upon  reading  the  by-laws 
you  will  notice  there  the  aims  and  purposes  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  as  set  forth  by  the  Executive  Committee.  That  is  more 
fully  set  forth  in  the  articles  of  incorporation  and,  of  course,  you  will 
notice  that  the  aims  and  purposes  of  this  corporation  and  its  by-laws, 
is  to  limit  these  questions  to  matters  pertaining  to  mining  directly  or 
indirectly  and  if  you  are  to  adhere  to  the  purposes  of  the  incorporation 
it  strikes  me  that  you  would  answer  the  question  of  the  gentleman,  but 
however,  we  would  like  a  suggestion  from  any  member  on  that 
question. 

COLONEL  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  would  suggest 
that  the  Committee  will  first  take  up  those  matters  that  pertain  to 
mines  and  mining,  the  securing  of  legislation  from  tthe  national  con- 
gress necessary  to  give  us  relief  and  that  when  they  report  the  resolu- 
tions a  time  should  be  fixed  for  the  Congress  to  consider  them.  There 
ought  to  be  a  distinct  hour  to  take  up  each  subject  as  reported.  Let 
the  Congress  make  its  rules  and  adhere  to  them  and  get  them  through 
in  a  business  way,  so  that  when  the  Congress  of  the  United  State? 
meets,  we  will  have  something  to  present  there  in  a  business  manner, 
something  that  will  command  respect  and  attention  and  get  the  sup- 
port of  every  man  honestly  engaged  in  getting  the  mining  laws  so 


100  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

shaped  as  to  benefit  the  mines  and  mining,  coeval  with  the  laws  that 
now  pertain  to  the  agricultural  department.  We  want  legislation  from 
that  body  that  at  least  will  give  us  as  .much  aid  and  benefit  to  mining 
as  congress  aids  every  year  agriculture  and  other  industries.  We 
want  some  practical,  hard  common  sense  legislation  for  the  benefit  of 
mining.  We  want  to  get  our  demands  in  shape  and  send  them  to  con- 
gress in  the  form  of  resolutions.  Therefore  I  would  ask  this  committee 
to  confine  itself  to  that  which  pertains  to  mining,  the  best  methods  of 
treating  ores  and  ask  the  government  aid  in  finding  out  what  is  in 
the  ores.  We  want  to  find  out  how  much  gold  can  be  saved  out 
of  ore  carrying  three  dollars  now.  W|e  want  every  government 
analysis  and  test  concerning  our  ores,  so  that  we  may  be  better 
enabled  to  treat  them.  We  desire  cur  mining  laws  amended  so  that 
the  mining  men  at  least  will  be  put  on  a  par  with  others.  We  desire 
our  laws  changed  with  reference  to  the  survey  of  the  public  mineral 
lands.  The  only  thing  to  do  is  for  the  mining  men  to  say  what  they 
want.  We  do  not  ask  any  favors  other  than  our  share  of  govern- 
ment help  but  we  propose  to  have  an  equal  showing  with  the  men  that 
raise  hogs  and  cattle  and  it  is  our  duty  to  inform  congress  what  we 
desire  and  what  rightfully  belongs  to  us,  and  we  must  tell  our  re- 
presentatives what  we  want,  they  will  not  give  us  anything  that 
is  not  asked  for.  Therefore  let  us  get  together  and  formulate  our 
wishes  in  the  form  of  resolutions  that  our  representatives  in  congress 
will  be  enabled  to  give  us  such  legislation  as  we  should  have  for 
these  matters. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  would  move  you  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, that  the  committee  on  resolutions  be  referred  to  Article  2  of 
the  proposed  constitution  and  by-laws  and  that  they  use  this  article 
for  their  instruction  with  regard  to  acting  upon  the  resolutions  that 
have  been  presented  to  this  Congress  . 

Secretary  Mahon  read  the  article  referred  to. 

HON.  E.  W.  MARTIN:  Mr.  President,  the  committee  are  quite 
familiar  with  the  proposed  by-laws  and  also  with  the  constitution 
but  the  idea  of  the  committee  is  that  neither  the  time  of  the  com- 
initee  nor  the  time  of  this  Congress  ought  legitimately  to  be  taken 
up  with  the  serious  consideration  of  matters  that  have  no  reference 
to  the  purposes  as  defined  in  this  article,  but  in  face  of  that  fact 
we  are  having  referred  to  us  in  a  serious  way  for  consideration 
various  matters  which  do  not  pertain  to  mines  and  mining  directly 
or  indirectly.  We  might  have  exercised  in  arbitrary  course  with 
reference  to  these  matters  and  suppressed  those  resolutions  in  the 
committee,  but  it  seemed  to  us  best  to  have  the  sense  of  Congress 
upon  that  subject.  To  illustrate,  my  friend  George  has  introduced1 
a  resolution  asking  the  admission  of  Oklahoma  as  a  state  in  this 
nation.  We  may  all  be  favorable  to  an  active  Congress  of  that 
character  but  it  has  no  connection  either  directly  or  remotely,  as 
it  seems  to  us,  with  the  subjects  for  deliberation  of  this  Congress. 
I  dO'not  know  that  there  is  any  mining  carried  on  in  the  state  or  pro- 
posed state  of  Oklahoma,  and  if  there  were  it  would  not  make  legis- 
lation of  that  kind  pertinent  to  the  purposes  of  this  organization 
and  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  not  seeming  discourteous  to  this  sort 
of  a  resolution,  but  our  having  the  feeling  of  this  Congress  upon  it, 
that  in  seriousness  we. ask  for  instructions. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  I  would  second  the  motion 
of  Dr.  Buckley  in  order  to  bring  us  to  a  head  and  a  conclusion  I 
think  the  section  read  covers  the  situation  identically. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that 
the  committee  be  referred  to  Article  2  of  the  by-laws  of  this  or- 
ganization for  instructions  with  regard  to  acting  upon  resolutions 
which  have  been  presented  to  this  Congress.  Are  you  ready  for 
the  question? 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS  10] 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  it 
strikes  me  that  in  giving  the  committee  the  entire  hour  absolutely 
to  decide  those  questions  that  you  are  taking  something  from  this 
convention  that  rightfully  belongs  to  it.  It  doesn't  strike  me  that 
it  is  proper  to  throw  the  entire  disposition  of  those  things  into  the 
hands  of  that  committee,  but  of  course  it  strikes  me  that  they  ought 
to  have  a  limited  power,  something  of  this  nature:  that,  for  instance, 
any  resolution  that  has  been  referred  to  that  committee  that  they 
are  to  report  to  our  convention  with  their  recommendation  and  if 
any  -resolution  has  been  submitted  to  them  that  they  believe  is  not 
of  interest  to  the  mining  industry  in  reporting  that  resolution  they 
should  so  state,  then  the  convention  can  decide  whether  it  believes 
that  of  interest  to  the  mining  industry  or  not,  and  I  would  move 
you  as  an  amendment  to  that  motion  that  this  committee  report 
the  several  resolutions  that  have  been  referred  to  it  with  their 
recommendations  and  the  convention  then  to  decide  for  itself.  I 
do  not  like  to  delegate  my  opinion  about  those  things  to  any  second 
party  and  I  want  a  voice  in  its  decision  and  I  believe  every  other 
member  of  this  organization  would  like  to  have  a  voice  in  those 
questions  because  this  Section  2  gives  a  very  wide  latitude  and  it 
would  put  a  power  in  the  hands  of  the  committee  that  I  do  not 
think  rightfully  belongs  there. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  question  now  is  on  the  original 
motion,  there  being  no  second  to  this  one.  All  in  favor  of  that  say 
"aye,"  those  opposed  "no."  The  motion  was  carried. 

A  resolution  recommended  by  A.  M.  Donaldson,  of  Colorado, 
relating  to  the  purchase  and  use  of  silver  by  the  government  was 
offered  and  read  by  the  secretary  and  by  the  president  referred  to 
the  committee  on  resolutions. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  would  just  like  to 
ask  now  for  information;  provided  this  committee  should  see  fit 
to  turn  down  that  resolution  and  say  that  it  is  not  pertaining  to 
the  mining  industry  directly  in  any  manner,  has  that  committee 
the  power  to  do  so? 

PRESIDENT  'RICHARDS:  The  chair  states  that  had  your  mo- 
tion been  seconded  the  chair  would  have  ruled  it  out  of  order  be- 
cause the  committee  could  make  nothing  further  than  recommen- 
dations and  it  would  have  been  a  useless  amendment  because  no 
committee  could  take  from  this  body  its  right  to  exercise  whatever 
judgment  it  would  see  fit  upon  any  question.  I  think  it  was  very 
proper  for  them  to  ask  a  little  instruction  from  this  body  and  to  get 
its  sentiment,  so  that  when  that  question  comes  up  from  that  com- 
mittee whatever  the  recommendation  may  be  it  will  then  be  in  the 
hands  of  this  Congress  for  action. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Do  I  understand  by 
that  resolution  that  that  committee  has  the  power  to  decide  as  to 
whether  it  shall  suppress  a  resolution  or  present  it  before  this  con- 
vention? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     I  do  not  understand  it  that  way. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  That  is  the  way  I  un- 
derstood it. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  This  Congress,  of  course,  has  con- 
trol of  every  question  that  comes  before  it.  The  committee  on  reso- 
lutions will  report  on  the  resolutions  and  then  it  will  be  before  this 
Congress  for  final  disposition. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Supposing  the  com- 
mittee fails  to  report  any  resolution  that  has  been  offered  to  it? 


102  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Then  this  Congress  has  a  right  to 
call  for  a  report  upon  any  resolution  it  may  require.  The  individual 
has  a  right  to  call  upon  this  Congress  to  ask  for  a  report,  if  Con- 
gress sees  fit  to  do  so  in  such  a  case;  that  has  always  been  the  rule, 
everyone  will  always  have  a  chance  under  our  rules  in  this  Con- 
gress to  ask  for  a  report.  I  know  that  is  the  purpose  of  the  com- 
mittee and  it  strikes  me  a  very  proper  request  that  they  get  the  senti- 
ment of  the  Congress  upon  that  question  because  it  is  a  new  one. 
They  will  not  be  shut  out  to  be  heard  upon  any  question  except 
something  ruled  out  by  the  body. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  My  reason  for  speaking 
on  this  subject  was  in  this  way;  we  see  of  course  that  all  of  the 
various  industries  of  the  country  have  their  organizations;  take  the 
wool  growers  of  the  west,  they  have  their  organization,  and  sugar 
growers,  the  steel  and  iron  men  of  the  east  and  they  are  all  of 
course  devoted  to  the  advancement  of  their  particular  industries 
and  when  these  questions  come  up  in  their  organizations  they  debate 
everything  that  pertains  to  their  industry.  For  instance,  if  the  wool 
growers'  convention  was  in  session  and  the  question  of  tariff  on 
wool  came  up,  it  would  be  discussed  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
growing  of  wool  would,  because  it  would  directly  pertain  to  the  in- 
terests of  that  industry  and  to  its  advantages,  whether  there  was  a 
tariff  on  wool  or  whether  there  was  not,  and  if  any  man  in  the  wool 
growers'  convention  was  to  get  up  and  say:  "This  is  not  a  political 
organization,  you  must  not  introduce  a  political  subject,  which  the 
tariff  is,"  he  would  receive  very  scant  courtesy  from  the  balance 
of  those  members  of  that  organization.  Because,  while  the  organiza- 
tion would  be  non-political,  the  fact  of  a  high  or  low  tariff  on  wool 
would  be  of  very  great  importance  to  that  industry  and  they  would 
discuss  it  just  the  same  as  they  would  the  growing  of  wool  in  any 
manner,  and  thus  the  questions  will  come  up  in  this  convention  in 
directly  the  same  manner  and  we  expect  to  discuss  them  in  that 
manner  just  in  the  same  way. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Your  inquiries  are  very  pertinent  and 
very  proper  but  we  are  undertaking  to  define  as  closely  as  possible 
a  line  under  the  aims  and  purposes  of  the  Congress  for  it  to  follow. 
It  is  very  proper  to  bring  it  up  and  there  is  no  question  but  what 
this  Congress  will  give  fair  consideration  to  every  question  that 
pertains  to  its  interests. 

It  was  moved,  seconded  and  carried  that  Congress  adjourn  until 
Friday  morning,  September  llth,  1903,  at  9:30  A.  M.  to  meet  at  Lead, 
South  Dakota. 

Lead,  South  Dakota,  September  llth,  1903,  9:30  A.  M. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Congress  will  be  in  order.  Before 
taking  up  the  regular  business,  if  there  are  any  resolutions  to  intro- 
duce this  is  a  good  opportunity  to  do  so. 

MR.  HOLMES,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  have  a  resolution  which  I 
desire  to  have  read  and  referred  to  the  committee  on  resolutions, 
regarding  the  establishment  and  maintenance  by  the  United  States 
of  one  or  more  institutions  in  each  state  and  territory,  the  purpose 
cf  which  shall  be  the  giving  of  instruction  in  subjects  relating  to 
mining  and  metallurgy  and  for  carrying  on  investigations  in  these 
subjects. 

The  resolution  was  read  by  Secretary  Mahon  and  by  the  presi- 
dent referred  to  the  committee  on  resolutions. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
resolutions  requests  me  to  state  that  the  committee  is  in  the  Golden 
Star  rooms  and  would  like  to  have  any  resolution  sent  over  as 
speedily  as  possible  so  that  if  there  is  any  other  resolution  to  be 
presented,  this  is  a  good  opportunity;  otherwise  the  resolutions  sub- 
mitted will  be  referred  to  that  committee  at  once. 


AMERICAN     MINING    CONGRESS.  103 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  The  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  credentials  desires  to  make  his  report. 

The  report  was  read  by  the  secretary  and  is  as  follows: 

Deadwood,  S.  D.,  September  11,   1903. 

To  the  President  and  Members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress: 

Gentlemen: — Your  committee  duly  appointed  on  the  credentials 
of  members  to  this  Congress  beg  to  report  that  they  have  found  five 
hundred  and  forty-eight  duly  accredited  and  appointed  delegates  to 
this  Congress;  and  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  permanent  members, 
making  a  grand  total  of  seven  hundred  and  seventy-four,  who  are 
legally  entitled  to  be  present  and  participate  in  all  the  proceedings 
of  this,  the  Sixth  Annual  Session  of  the  Congress. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

RICHARD  C.  PATTERSON,  Chairman. 
W.  T.  TARBELL, 
C.  A.  HUTCHISON, 

Committee. 

I  would  state  ex  parte  that  I  have  the  credentials  with  me  of 
all  those  who  have  handed  them  to  me  and  if  they  desire  they  can 
have  them  returned.  They  are  here  on  the  table. 

MR.  RUSSELL:  Mr.  President,  I  move  you  the  adoption  of  the 
report  of  the  committee  on  credentials. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF   SOUTH   DAKOTA:     I  second  the  motion. 

The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  unanimously  carried. 

The  following  is  the  complete  list  of  members  and  delegates 
present: 

ARIZONA. 

Ewing,  Col,  Thos 

Mills,  C.  E Phoenix 

McLean,    Milton Phoenix 

CALIFORNIA. 

Mitchell,  Capt.  E.  Pryce   Santa  Barbara 

Jones,  John  T Los  Angeles 

Ewing,  Col.  Thos.  E Los  Angeles 

COLORADO. 

Donaldson,  A.  M Denver 

Browne,  Col.  Ed.  F Aspen 

Tarbell,  W.  S Colorado  Springs 

Abbott,  Jas.  W Denver 

Beam,   T.    Walter    Denver 

Buckley,  W.  S ,/., , 

Wygant,  Luther  H 

Shepherd,    F.    E Denver 

Cammett,  Ira  A Denver 

Kealey,    Arthur    E. , ; Boulder 

Ballard,  Fred  L Colorado  Springs 

Schneider,  G.  W.    . 

Merrill,  H.  S Boulder 

Hammond,   L.    P 

Downing  Jas.   M. Aspen 

Mills Denver 

Sander,   Frank  F Colorado   Springs 

Brennan,  Edgar  H Colorado  Springs 

Mathews,   Oliver    Colorado   Springs 

Vanatta,  J.  K Colorado  Springs 

Snoup,  O.  H Colorado  Springs 

Haggatt,  Lieut-Gov.  W.  A Colorado 


104  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

ILLINOIS. 

Ede,  J.  A LaSalle  County 

Law,  Mrs.  D.  H Dixon 

IOWA. 

Gable,  J.  H Crawford   County 

Moore,  Robert  H Ottumwa 

IDAHO. 

Jackson,   O.   E Boise 

Richards,  Hon.  J.  H 

Jenkins,  Hon.  Francis    

Garver,  W.  A Spokane 

INDIANA. 

Hargrove,    Geo Terre    Haute 

Simmons,  C.  B Indianapolis 

MONTANA. 

Kemper,  Simeon  V 

Lynch,  Jas ,. ., Butte 

Winchell,  S.  N Butte 

Kemper,   Simeon  V Butte 

Brown,  Daniel Butte 

Harris,  Hugh  C Butte 

MISSOURI. 

Johnston,  B.  H Mendata 

Buckley , Rolla 

Walton,  William   Highbee 

Holmes,  Prof.  J.  A , St.  Louis 

MINNESOTA. 

Webber,  Clarence   Minneapolis 

Derringer,  O.  S St.  Paul 

Hanson,   P.   N Minneapolis 

Appleby,  Prof.  Wm.  R ( Minnesota 

Bennett,  Geo.  M 

Orr,  Thos.  G , 

O'Connor,  P.  D St.   Paul 

MICHIGAN. 
Davies,  M.  L 

MAINE. 

Ricker,  Asa  L 

Small,   J.   T Lewiston 

NEBRASKA. 

Nicholson,  H.  H Lincoln 

Stueffer,  Wm West  Point 

Dorsey,  Geo.  W.  E Fremont 

Patterson,  Richard  C Omaha 

Webster,  John  L Omaha 

Andrews,  I.  N Alliance 

Lawler,  William Lincoln 

Cochran,   S.   T , Lincoln 

Williams,  Elmer 

NORTH  DAKOTA. 
Wilder.  Frank  A .  .  Grand  Forks 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  105 

NEW  YORK. 

Earle,  Henry   New  York 

Crawford,  Henry  E .New  York 

OHIO. 

Culver,  Henry  Elyria 

OREGON. 

McLaughlin,  J.  A Sumpter 

Watson,   Frank  W , Portland 

Drake,  F.  V Grants  Pass 

Myers,  Jefferson   Salem 

Muir,  Thos.  K Portland 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Dignowity,  C.  L Philadelphia 

Heckler,  C.  F Philadelphia 

SOUTH  DAKOTA. 

Gossage,  Jas.  B Rapid  City 

Halley,  James ., Rapid  City 

M.cShane,  A.   G 

May,  Ernest    ..  .* Lead 

Overpeck,  A.   C Keystone 

Hare,  Jos , Keystone 

Martin,  C.  A Sturgis 

George  Jas.  A ,. ., Deadwood 

Blatchford,  John Terry 

Carroll,  John  D ....... .1 Lead 

Blackstone,  Richard   Lead 

Steward,  Wesley  A ,. 

Irwin,  E.  F Lead 

Thompson,  Geo.  B , (. .- Lead 

Gushurst,  P.  A Lead 

Martin,  E.  W.    . Deadwood 

Phillips,  K.  G Deadwood 

Selbie,  William   Deadwood 

Star,  Sol i ,. ., Deadwood 

Pryce,  O.  U Deadwood 

Harrington,   J.   T ,. ... ., Deadwood 

Franklin,  Harris Deadwood 

Rice,  W.  G ..,....( Deadwood 

Thompson,  Moses   Deadwood 

Thegory,  Thos , Lead 

Crow,  I.  R Lead 

McQuillan,  James  .  .|.  ...  .1 Lead 

Cotton,  James    Lead 

Tbornby,  W.  J , ,..,.., Deadwood 

Slagle,  R.  L Rapid  City 

Moody,  Chas.  C.    ..... .f. .- Sturgis 

Blatt,   Max Sturgis 

Pilcher,  Jos.  E ., , Custer 

Gamble,  R.  J Yankton 

Baldwin,  F.  R.    . ., Maitland 

Todd,  J.  E. Vermillion 

Lawson,  J.  M Aberdeen 

Mann,  M.  M Aberdeen 

McNeary,  John   ,. Aberdeen 

Gray,   John    Terraville 

Jackson  George  S Deadwood 

Wood,  G.  A Milbank 

Freeman,  J.  W Lead 


106  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

Sawyer,  John  F Roubaix 

Burke,  John  L Hot  Springs 

Grier,  T.  J Lead 

UTAH. 
Gilrner,  Charles    Salt  Lake   City 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Parker,  Edward  W 

Darton,  Nelson  H 


WYOMING. 

Danielson,    Andrew    ....... Sundance 

Nobs,  Alfred 

WISCONSIN. 
Goodner,  T.  E 

WASHINGTON. 
Long,  Albert . Pomeroy 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Are  there  any  other  matters  you 
desire  to  take  up  before  taking  up  the  question  of  by-laws? 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  move  you,  Mr.  President,  that 
we  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  proposed  by-laws. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  That  being  a  special  order  a  motion 
is  not  required. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  That  they  be  taken  up  section 
by  section,  considered  that  way  and  adopted. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     That  was  part  of  the  original  motion. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Before  we  start  in,  I 
would  make  a  motion  that  in  discussing  these  by-laws  that  all  the 
debates  be- limited  to  two  minutes. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:     I  second  the  motion. 
The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  duly  carried. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  desire  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  in  the  second  section  of  the  Daily  Mining 
Record,  which  is  on  the  seats  here,  a  copy  of  these  proposed  by-laws 
may  be  found,  on  the  first  page  of  the  second  section. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  secretary  will  read  the  first  ar- 
ticle of  the  proposed  by-laws. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  the  section. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  On  that  section,  gentlemen,  I  would 
state  that  the  last  Congress  instructed  the  executive  committee  to 
incorporate  this  body;  we  assumed  that  that  gave  the  committee  the 
right  to  name  the  body  and  the  articles  of  incorporation  on  file  at 
Denver  name  this  Congress  "The  American  Mining  Congress,"  so  I 
presume  it  would  be  useless  to  waste  any  time  upon  that  question, 
as  it  has  been  settled  by  the  articles  of  incorporation. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Article  2  of  proposed  by-laws. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  that 
section,  gentlemen? 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  I  would  like  to  ask  for  in- 
formation with  reference  to  one  part  of  that  section,  "To  promote  a 
more  co-operative  tendency  in  the  evolution  of  agriculture."  Why 
agriculture?  Now,  if  it  read  "To  promote  a  more  co-operative  ten- 
dency in  the  evolution  of  mining,  manufacturing,  transportation  and 
the  commerce  thereof,"  I  would  suggest,  "and  for  the  particular  pur- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  107 

pose  of  bringing  the  mining  men  of  the  United  States  into  closer 
relation  with  one  another  and  to  promote  a  friendly  feeling  for  one 
another  through  social  intercourse  and  the  discussion  of  mutual  in- 
terests" is  what  I  am  in  favor  of.  I  simply  inquire,  perhaps  I  do  not 
know — I  do  not  think  I  do — why  the  evolution  of  agriculture  should 
be  mentioned  in  connection  with  mining;  probably  it  was  overlooked. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  think  the  chair  can  state  the  object 
the  committee  had  in  view  at  the  time  and  that  is  that  they  seemed 
to  be  looked  upon  by  the  government  as  matters  that  are  wholly  apart 
and  that  the  laws  of  this  western  country  especially,  if  not  of  the  east 
as  they  are  permanently  established,  should  be  a  more  harmonious 
whole  and  that  there  are  some  questions  that  so  far  as  legislation 
is  concerned  directly  affect  both,  and  it  was  the  hope  that  we  could 
have  the  benefits  of  a  co-operative  tendency  in  the  development  of 
the  west  along  western  lines  especially,  as  the  east  have  already  had 
their  special  development  along  their  particular  lines,  and  to  obtain 
the  sympathy  and  co-operatipn  of  those  two  great  industries,  that 
was  the  purpose  intended  to  be  aimed  at  as  I  understood  it. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  I  can  say  your  object  was 
very  laudable,  but  in  this  age  of  progress  and  advancement  we  are 
not  devloping  along  lines  of  a  general  character,  taking  in  three  or 
four  or  five  or  more  interests,  but  we  are  rather  beginning  to  take 
up  specialities  and  working  especially  in  its  behalf  and  making  that 
specialty  so  prominent  and  being  taken  care  of  so  well  that  it  is  re- 
spected for  its  strength.  Now  you  would  mix  mining  men  and  farmers 
together;  I  am  a  farmer,  have  been  one  all  .my  life  until  I  quit  some 
few  years  ago. 

I  am  interested  in  mining  now  and  I  do  not  know  of  a  single 
farmer  among  my  friends  that  cares  a  snap  of  his  finger  about  your 
mining  interests;  in  fact,  he  doesn't  know  anything  about  it,  he 
doesn't  want  to  know  anything  about  it.  In  fact,  when  you  come 
to  speak  to  him  about  it  he  gives  you  what  we  call  in  common  slang 
"the  horse  laugh."  He  would  not  pnt  a  dollar  into  mining  stock, 
but  he  would  invest  every  dollar  and  every  nickle  he  has  in  a  cow 
or  steer  or  a  horse  or  a  hog,  and  that  is  all  right.  Let  the  agricul- 
tural people  form  their  society  and  have  their  congress;  if  they 
want  to  hear  from  the  Mining  Congress  let  them  give  us  an  invita- 
tion and  we  will  send  representatives  that  will  represent  our  in- 
terests. The  professional  man  today  that  .makes  a  success  is  not  a 
general  practitioner  like  he  used  to  be;  the  lawyer  today  that  makes 
a  success  in  the  large  cities  is  not  a  lawyer  in  all  branches  of  legal 
learning;  he  has  his  reputation,  as  a  corporation  lawyer,  for  in- 
stance, or  his  reputation  as  a  realty  lawyer  or  a  criminal  lawyer — 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Under  the  rules  your  time  has  ex- 
pired. 

MR.  BUCKJLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  believe  the  conditions  which 
exist  in  our  own  state  and  in  Nebraska  and  in  other  neighboring 
states  are  not  the  same  as  they  are  in  the  western  states.  That  in 
the  past  there  has  been  some  friction  between  the  agricultural  inter- 
ests and  the  mining  interests,  especially  with  reference  to  the  use 
of  water,  and  that  the  west  is  particularly  interested,  the  western 
mining  men  are  particularly  interested  in  those  resources  which 
contribute  not  only  to  his  welfare  but  to  the  welfare  of  the  agricul- 
tural man  and  that  there  must  be  in  the  west  a  more  co-operative 
tendency  between  the  agricultural  and  mining  interests.  I  think 
this  is  especially  so  in  the  western  states,  with  which  I  am  not  so 
familiar  as  some  of  our  members  present  here  this  morning,  and  I 
think  it  is  important  that  this  section  should  remain.  There  was 
no  idea  in  placing  this  in  the  objects  of  the  American  Mining  Con- 
gress to  bring  about  any  particular  effort  in  the  interests  of  agricul- 
ture. There  was  no  attempt  to  further  especially  the  agricultural 


108  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

interests  only  in  so  far  as  agriculture  and  mining  in  the  west  must 
develop  hand  in  hand.  I  think  that  is  the  idea  that  the  executive 
committee  had  in  mind  in  placing  this  sentence  in  the  objects. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  In  order  to  simplify 
that  matter  I  would  like  to  offer  a  suggestion.  After  the  word  "com- 
merce," insert  the  words  "connected  with  the  mining  industry." 
That  would  make  that  paragraph  and  sentence  read,  "To  promote  a 
more  co-operative  tendency  in  the  evolution  of  agriculture,  mining, 
manufacturing,  transportation  and  commerce  connected  with  the 
mining  industry." 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  I  would  accept  that  if 
you  will  add  the  word  "and  the  commerce  connected  with  the  mining 
industry."  I  do  not  wish  to  cut  out  the  agricultural  men,  but  if  we 
are  going  to  be  a  mining  congress  we  want  to  be  a  mining  congress 
and  not  an  agricultural  organization,  with  all  due  respect  to  agri- 
cultural organizations.  Striking  out  the  word  "agriculture"  and  tak- 
ing the  word  "mining"  first,  which  I  think  is  proper  in  this  case. 
Why  give  the  word  "agriculture"  first  mention  in  your  by-laws,  when 
you  are  a  mining  congress?  The  suggestion  here  of  this  gentleman 
from  South  Dakota  meets  with  my  approval  except  the  word 
"mining"  should  precede  the  word  "agriculture." 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  I  think 
Mr.  Buckley  has  stated  the  reasons  that  governed  the  executive 
committee  in  this  matter  clearly.  We  recognize  the  fact  that  in 
this  western  country  these  interests  are  connected  closely,  espec- 
ially along  the  lines  of  the  use  of  waters,  but  it  seems  to  me  also, 
Mr.  Patterson  has  raised  a  point  that  is  worthy  of  consideration  and 
while  I  do  not  go  to  the  same  extent  that  he  does,  it  seems  to  me, 
however,  it  would  be  better  that  we  were  to  place  the  word  "mining" 
before  the  word  "agriculture,"  and  not  strike  out  the  word  "agricul- 
ture," but  make  the  first  word  of  this  clause  in  naming  the  interests 
"mining." 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  We  have  an  irrigation 
congress;  congress  has  appropriated  a  large  amount  of  money  for 
irrigation.  I  am  free  to  confess  I  do  not  understand  the  law  exactly 
but  if  this  government  builds  the  large  reservoirs  at  Belle  Fourche, 
is  that  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  or  for  mining?  The  fact  of  it  is 
agriculture  and  its  interests  have  all  they  want,  and  I  move  you, 
Mr.  President,  to  let  the  paragraph  stand  as  it  is  and  strike  out  the 
v/ord  "agriculture." 

MR.  PATTERSON!,  OF  NEBRASKA:      I  second  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  to 
amend  this  section  by  striking  out  the  word  "agriculture."  Those 
in  favor  of  striking  out  the  word  "agriculture"  please  rise  to  their 
feet. 

A  DELEGATE:    Mr.  Chairman,  have  the  delegates  a  right  to  vote? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  would  like  to  make  this  suggestion: 
This  is  a  legal  question  as  I  understand  it,  we  are  now  passing  upon 
the  by-laws  of  a  legal  corporation,  which,  under  the  statutes  of  Colo- 
rado require  the  legal  adoption  of  its  by-laws.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested and  I  think  the  suggestion  is  a  good  one  that  all  delegates 
beTJprmitted  to  participate  in  the  discussion  and  vote  for  the  by-laws, 
section  by  section,  and  then  adopt  it  as  a  whole  to  make  it  legal, 
and  if  there  is  no  objection  the  delegates  may  vote  on  the  by-laws, 
section  by  section,  but  when  we  come  to  adopt  the  by-laws  as  a  whole 
in  order  to  make  it  legal  then  the  members  only  will  vote  upon  the 
question.  If  there  is  no  objection  we  will  let  that  stand  as  a  rule. 

The  motion  was  again  stated  by  the  president  and  lost. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  109 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  will  move  that  the  section  be 
so  amended  as  to  read  as  follows:  "To  promote  a  more  co-operative 
tendency  in  the  evolution  of  mining,  manufacturing,  agriculture, 
transportation  and  commerce." 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:     I  second  the  motion. 
The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  A  motion  to  adopt  the  section  as 
amended  will  be  in  order. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  move  the  adoption  of 
Section  2  as  amended. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:      I  second  the  motion. 
The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 
Secretary   Mahon   read   Section   1   of  Article   3   of   the   proposed 
by-laws. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  I  move 
the  adoption  of  Section  1  of  Article  3  of  the  proposed  by-laws. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:     I  second  the  motion. 
The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 
The  secretary  read  Section  2  of  Article  3. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Hearing  no  objection  we  will  con- 
sider it  adopted. 

The  secretary  read  Section  3  of  Article  3. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Hearing  no  objection  to  this  section 
it  will  stand  adopted. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  4  of  Article  3. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  Hearing  no  objection  to  this  section 
it  will  stand  adopted. 

The  secretary  read  Section  5  of  Article  3. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Hearing  no  objection  to  this  section 
it  will  stand  adopted. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Do  you  wish  to  adopt 
this  article  by  itself? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     Just  as  the  Congress  wishes. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  move  the  article  as 
read,  being  Article  3,  be  adopted. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 
Article  4  was  read  by  the  secretary. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  As  a  member  of  the 
executive  committee  that  acted  upon  this  article,  I  wish  to  say  that 
at  that  time  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  was  correct,  but  since  that 
time,  after  considering  it,  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  possibly  that 
board  made  an  error.  It  seems  to  me  from  our  experience  of  this 
year  that  in  restricting  the  appointments  by  the  governors  and  the 
heads  of  countries  to  fifteen  members  that  we  have  restricted  it  too 
much.  We  all  know  that  the  governors  are  influenced  largely  in 
their  appointments  in  these  matters  by  political  considerations  in 
part.  It  is  not  always  so  but  generally  so  and  in  limiting  the  ap- 
pointments by  governors  to  fifteen,  in  some  cases  they  have  no 
more  than  enough  places  to  name  gentlemen  that  they  wish  to 
honor  in  their  own  state  and  yet  whose  interests  are  identified  with 
raining  and  who  are  not  at  all  likely  to  attend  the  Congress.  Re- 
cognizing the  fact  that  they  will  unquestionably  do  so  and  believing 
that  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  greater  latitude  in  that 
matter;  so  that  there  may  be  representation  in  every  state  under 


110  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

the  appointments  of  the  governors,  I  move  you,  sir,  that  instead  of 
fifteen  members  that  the  article  should  read,  "The  chief  executive 
of  any  country,  state  or  territory  may  appoint  as  delegates  to  any 
session  of  this  Congress  thirty  persons  actively  associated  with 
mining." 

MR.  JOSEPH  B.  MOORE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  second  the 
motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that 
we  substitute  in  lieu  of  the  word  "fifteen"  the  word  and  figures 
"thirty"  (30). 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  chief  executive  of 
any  state  cannot  appoint  a  man  except  he  is  actively  engaged  in 
mining  and  it  rests  with  this  Congress  to  say  when  a  man  as  appointed 
by  an  executive  to  come  here  that  if  he  is  not  actively  associated 
with  .mining  then  his  appointment  is  null,  because  such  governor  or 
executive  has  done  what  he  has  not  a  right  to  do  and  I  think  that 
no  appointment  of  delegates  should  be  made  except  such  as  are 
actively  engaged  in  the  mining  business  or  associated  with  it  and 
not  politicians  alone.  A  man's  politics  has  nothing  to  do  with  this 
Congress;  if  he  is  associated  with  or  actively  engaged  in  mining 
then  he  is  an  eligible  member  if  the  governor  appoints  him  and  if 
he  has  not  those  qualifications  he  is  not  eligible.  The  thing  we  ought 
to  do  is  to  get  delegates  interested  in  mining.  I  shall  hope  this  con- 
vention will  vote  down  a  proposition  to  increase  it  to  thirty  because 
from  the  very  argument  the  gentleman  makes  if  it  is  force  at  all. 
in  place  of  getting  rid  of  fifteen  politicians  we  would  have  thirty.  I 
think  we  had  better  keep  down  to  fifteen. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKiA:  Without  having  known  that 
my  friend  Mr.  Russell  was  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  or 
having  known  anything  about  it  all  except  what  I  read  of  here  in 
this  article  No.  4,  it  impresses  me  that  it  would  be  a  better  idea  to 
decrease  the  number  instead  of  increasing,  and  by  decreasing  raise 
the  dignity  of  the  appointment. 

Now  the  impression  prevails  throughout  Iowa  and  Nebraska 
that  an  appointment  to  any  mining  congress,  not  only  this  one,  but 
to  any  other  one,  by  the  governors,  is  a  matter  of  very  small  honor, 
because  anybody  can  get  the  appointment  that  makes  the  applica- 
tion because  the  governor  is  only  pleased  to  have  the  names  of 
fifteen  men;  he  makes  no  inquiry  about  them,  as  to  whether  they 
are  associated  with  mining  or  not.  Now  I  read  this  all  over  very 
carefully  this  morning  so  I  would  be  intelligently  informed  as  to 
what  was  desired  here  and  this  particular  article  impressed  me  that 
it  would  be  better  to  cut  this  fifteen  down  to  ten  than  to  have  fifteen, 
and  thereby  dignify  the  importance  of  the  appointment  and  get 
mining  men.  You  can  get  ten  mining  men  out  of  every  state;  a  poli- 
tician has  no  business  to  be  appointed  if  this  section  is  adopted. 
Why?  Because  it  says  "persons  actively  associated  with  mining." 
What  does  that  mean?  It  .means  that  you  must  be  actively  engaged 
in  the  work  and  that  is  what  it  ought  to  be. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  would  like  to  say  in  reference 
to  this  article  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  executive  committee 
to  raise  the  dignity  of  the  appointment  by  reducing  the  number  of  dele- 
gates from  thirty  to  fifteen  and  I  agree  with  Mr.  Patterson  when 
he  says  that  it  would  also  increase  the  dignity  of  the  appointment 
by  decreasing  the  number  of  delegates  from  fifteen  to  ten,  and  I 
would  like  to  ask  the  secretary  a  question;  if  at  the  present  Con- 
gress the  governors  of  the  states  were  directed  to  appoint  only  men 
who  were  actively  associated  with  mining? 

SECRETARY  MAHON:      No,  sir,  they  were  not. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  Ill 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  think  the  governors  of  the 
Ftates,  if  they  knew  this  Congress  would  not  recognize  a  delegate 
appointed  by  them  and  not  actively  associated  with  mining,  would 
give  this  Congress  more  consideration  than  they  do  at  the  presenT 
time. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:  You  asked  me  a  direct  question;  I  want 
to  give  you  a  direct  and  truthful  answer.  The  governors  were  not 
specially  notified  as  to  the  matter  to  which  you  have  called  attention 
this  morning,  but  to  every  governor,  to  every  chamber  of  commerce 
and  to  every  organization  that  was  invited  to  appoint  delegates  a 
copy  of  the  by-laws  was  enclosed  with  the  letter. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  do  not  wish  to  cast  any  re- 
flection upon  the  secretary,  because  he  had  no  authority  to  demand 
of  the  governors  of  the  various  states  to  appoint  delegates  who  were 
actively  associated  in  mining,  because  the  proposed  by-laws  and 
constitution  were  not  adopted  or  had  not  been  adopted  prior  to 
this  session  and  he  is  not  in  error  in  any  way  by  not  making  this 
request. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:      I  understood  it  that  way,  Mr.  Buckley. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  feel  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  the  discussion  of  Mr.  Buckley  on  that  question  and  I 
would  move  to  amend  that  motion  before  the  house  by  inserting  the 
v;ord  "ten"  instead  of  "fifteen." 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  to 
amend  the  motion  to  amend  by  substituting  the  word  and  figures 
"'ten"  (10)  instead  of  the  word  and  figures  "thirty"  (30)  in  the 
amendment.  Are  you  ready  for  the  question? 

The  motion  was  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Now  the  question  is:  Shall  this  sec- 
tion be  adopted  by  substituting  the  word  ten  and  the  figures  10  in 
lieu  of  the  word  and  figures  fifteen  (15)  as  in  the  originally  proposed 
by-laws.  Are  you  ready  for  the  question? 

The  motion  was  carried  and  the  amendment  adopted. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  further  pleasure  on  that 
section? 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  would  move  that  mining 
associations  be  allowed  to  appoint  one  delegate  to  every  ten  mem- 
bers of  the  mining  association;  if  the  mining  association  has  got 
fifty  active  men  in  it  let  them  appoint  five,  if  it  has  one  hundred  let 
them  appoint  ten;  so  I  will  move  that  the  delegates  appointed  by 
mining  associations  shall  be  one  for  every  ten  members. 

MR.  LYNCH,  OF  MONTANA:  Inasmuch  as  it  is  incumbent  upon 
members  attending  this  Congress  to  pay  their  own  expenses  and  I 
know  of  no  other  appropriation  being  made  from  any  quarter,  it 
would  seem  to  me  that  a  mining  organization  such  as  a  miners'  union 
might  take  some  interest  in  appointing  the  delegates  to  attend  a 
Congress  of  this  character  if  the  number  of  members  they  were  en- 
titled to  were  decreased.  We  have  in  Butte  the  largest  mining 
organization  in  the  United  States,  I  believe,  and  I  think  our  union  there 
would  take  pleasure  in  appointing  one  delegate  to  represent  our  union 
at  their  expense,  and  no  more. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.  I 
would  like  permission  to  second  Colonel  George's  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  is  well  taken.  It  is  moved  and 
seconded  that  we  amend  this  section  by  adding  in  lieu  of  the  word 
"three"  now  in  this  section  that  each  mining  association  and  other 


112  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

bodies  there  named  shall  appoint  one  delegate  for  each  ten  members 
thereof.     Are  you  ready  for  the  question? 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  I  want  to 
say  that  the  mining  associations  I  was  speaking  of  was  not  the 
miners'  unions.  We  have  a  miners'  association  here  in  the  Black 
Hills  of  about  five  hundred  members.  Now  this  miners'  association 
embraces  the  whole  Black  Hills  and  we  are  limited  to  three  men. 
There  are  five  or  six  counties  in  this  Black  Hills  country  and  the 
miners'  association  could  not  even  get  a  man  from  each  county  I 
wanted  to  get  the  expression  of  the  association  with  reference  to 
this  matter.  We  want  a  representative  from  the  mining  men's  asso- 
ciations and  the  men  actively  engaged  in  mining;  the  Mining  Mjen's 
Association  would  have  a  fixed  ratio  by  which  they  could  send  dele- 
gates sufficient  to  be  an  inducement  to  them  to  build  up  their  asso- 
ciation, because  the  more  members  they  have  in  the  association  the 
more  delegates  they  could  send  to  Congress. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Did  I  understand  your  motion  then 
to  apply  simply  to  mining  men's  associations? 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Yes,  sir. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  So  the  motion  now  before  the  house 
then  is  to  amend  this  article  as  to  mining  men's  associations  so  that 
such  associations  shall  have  the  privilege  of  appointing  one  delegate 
for  each  ten  members,  rather  than  three  as  it  stands. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA  I  am  opposed  to  that.  I 
understand  there  are  five  hundred  members  in  the  Black  Hills  mining 
men's  organization,  that  would  give  them  the  right  and  privilege  to 
appoint  fifty  delegates.  They  do  not  want  to  do  that.  If  we  gave 
them  that  permission  they  would  not  appreciate  it.  If  you  will  cut 
it  down  to  about  two  or  three  there  will  be  a  fight  among  about 
fifteen  or  twenty  of  them  to  get  the  appointment  and  the  two  or  three 
men  who  get  the  appointment  will  go  to  the  Congress  feeling  they 
won  their  spurs  at  home  and  will  fight  for  something  when  they  get 
there.  What  is  the  use  of  having  drones  in  our  Congress?  Better 
close  up  the  doors.  I  shall  make  a  motion  probably  before  these 
by-laws  are  adopted  that  every  member  who  is  appointed  as  a  dele- 
gate to  this  Congress  from  any  organization,  that  he  shall  attend 
sessions  of  Congress  when  in  session  or  shall  be  fined  for  his  absence 
unless  he  is  excused.  I  believe  that  I  voice  the  sentiment  of  the  men 
here  this  morning  on  that  point  and  I  wish  there  were  more  here. 
I  don't  believe  in  being  what  they  call  a  "dead"  one  in  anything; 
be  alive.  So  I  am  opposed  to  one  delegate  in  ten  or  one  in  fifty  or 
one  in  a  hundred  of  this  Black  Hills  organization;  not  that  I  have 
anything  against  the  Black  Hills  organization  or  any  other,  but  I 
believe  in  making  the  organization  a  dignified  one.  We  have  a  dig- 
nified president  for  instance  (Applause)  and  I  want  it  done  along 
these  lines;  appoint  delegates  that  are  able  to  take  care  of  their  in- 
terests and  represent  their  interests  from  wherever  they  may  be  sent. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  would  be  opposed  to 
the  resolution  as  it  was  offered  on  the  same  grounds  that  Mr.  Pat- 
terson is  and  not  only  that,  but  I  would  be  opposed  to  it  on  the  fur- 
ther grounds  that  it  was  discriminating  against  the  real  miners  of 
the  country,  miners'  organizations;  they  are  more  nearly  miners 
than  members  of  this  Mining  Men's  Association  or  more  universally 
KO,  for  -the  reason  that  many  of  the  members  of  the  Mining  Men's 
Association  are  actually  not  directly  associated  with  mining;  they 
are  indirectly  perhaps  because  they  are  living  in  a  mining  country, 
hut  there  is  perhaps  very  few  members  of  the  miners'  union  but 
what  are  actively  engaged  in  mining,  all  of  them,  and  of  course  P 
would  be  opposed  to  discriminating  in  favor  of  any  organization 
connected  with  mining  as  against  the  miners'  union.  I  think  we 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  113 

should  put  everyone  that  is  actively  engaged  in  the  mining  industry 
on  the  same  footing,  whether  it  is  a  mining  men's  organization  or 
whether  it  is  any  other  organization  in  a  mining  country  composed 
largely  of  mining  men.  As  I  understand  it,  the  proposed  by-laws 
limit  these  organizations  to  the  appointment  of  three  delegates  which, 
it  seems  to  ,me,  that  is  limiting  the  number  to  a  reasonable  amount 
and  that  ought  to  give  us  a  good  representation  from  all  other  or- 
ganizations. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  It  seems  to  me  that  it 
is  wise  and  right  that  there  should  be  a  distinction  in  this  delegate 
representation  between  men  that  are  identified  with  mining  in  any 
way  and  between  organizations  that  consist  of  mining  men  or  miners' 
organizations.  I  have  no  discrimination  to  make  between  miners' 
associations  or  the  miners;  place  them  on  an  equality;  but  I  do  believe 
that  associations  of  this  kind  are  entitled  to  a  greater  representation 
here  than  boards  of  trade,  chambers  of  commerce,  county  commis- 
sioners and  concerns  of  that  kind.  I  feel  that  our  representation 
should  be  based  on  mining  men's  organizations,  whether  they  be 
the  mining  associations  as  we  distinguish  them  or  miners'  unions, 
make  no  discrimination  there  at  all,  but  I  do  wish  a  discrimination 
made  in  favor  of  strictly  mining  organizations  against  trade  or- 
ganizations. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  With  the  consent  of 
the  chair  I  will  withdraw  my  motion  to  amend. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Of  course  the  chair  has  no  control 
of  the  matter,  but  if  I  hear  no  objection  we  will  consider  it  withdrawn. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  wish  it  understood  my  second 
to  the  motion  was  simply  to  bring  it  before  the  house.  I  shall  be 
very  glad  to  withdraw  my  second. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Then  if  there  is  no  objection  we  will 
consider  the  motion  withdrawn. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  would  suggest  that  this 
be  passed  for  the  present  time. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     If  there  is  no  objection  we  will  pass  it. 
Secretary  Mahon  read  the  first  section  of  Aricle  5. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Hearing  no  objection  Article  5  will 
stand  adopted. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  1  of  Article  6. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  offer  a  substitute  for 
that  whole  article  which  I  will  ask  the  secretary  to  read. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  the  substitute  offered  for  the  whole  article. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  I  have  heard  no  second  to  this  motion 
to  substitute. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  Mir.  President,  I  would  move 
you  the  adoption  of  Section  1  of  Article  6  of  the  by-laws  as  read  by 
the  secretary. 

Which  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  2  of  Article  6  of  the  proposed 
by-laws. 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:  I  move  the  adoption  of  the 
section  as  read. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  3  of  Article  6. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  Section  3  of  Article  6  of  the 
proposed  by-laws  be  adopted,  which  motion  was  carried. 


114  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  1  of  Article  7. 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:     I  move  the  adoption  of  Section 
1,  Article  7  of  the  proposed  by-laws. 
The  .motion   was  seconded. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  Let  me  inquire  who  is 
meant  by  "except  an  active  member  of  this  association  in  good 
standing." 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  aim  of  the  executive  committee 
was  to  include  only  legal  members,  that  is  those  who  became  active 
members  of  the  corporation  by  paying  annual  dues,  which  makes 
them  in  good  standing.  The  dues  are  five  dollars  for  the  member- 
ship fee  and  two  dollars  annually  thereafter. 

The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  2  of  Article  7  and  there  being  no 
objection  the  section  was  declared  adopted  by  the  president. 

Secretary  Mabon  read  Section  3  of  Article  7  and  there  being  no 
objection  the  section  was  declared  adopted  by  the  president. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  4  of  Article  7  and  there  being  no 
objection  the  section  was  declared  adopted  by  the  president. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  5  of  Article  7  and  there  being  no 
objection  the  section  was  declared  adopted  by  the  president. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  6  of  Article  7  and  there  being  no 
objection  the  section  was  declared  adopted  by  the  president. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  move  the  adoption  of 
the  whole  of  Article  7. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:     I  second  the  motion. 
The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 
Secretary   Mahon   read    Section    1    of   Article   8    of   the    proposed 
by-laws. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  Section  1 
will  stand  adopted. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  2  of  Article  8. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS  If  there  is  no  objection  it  will  stand 
adopted. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  1  of  Article  9. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  would  move  you  that  this 
section  be  amended  so  as  to  read  as  follows:.  "The  treasurer  of 
this  Congress  shall  give  bonds  for  an  amount  to  be  determined  by 
the  board  of  directors  of  not  less  than  five  thousand  dollars,  said 
bond  to  be  approved  by  the  board  of  directors." 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  and 
carried. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  2  of  Article  9. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     There  being  no  objection  it  is  adopted. 
Secretary   Mahon   read    Section   3   of  Article   9. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS     There  being  no  objection  it  is  adopted. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  1  of  Article  10. 

There  being  no  objection  it  was  declared  adopted  by  the  president. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  2  of  Article  10. 

There  being  no  objection  it  was  declared  adopted  by  the  president. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  3  of  Article  10. 

There  being  no  objection  it  was  declared  adopted  by  the  president. 

MR.  HOLMES,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  do  not  understand  that  either 
Articles  9  and  10  have  been  adopted  as  a  whole,  and  I  would  therefore 
move  the  adoption  of  Articles  9  and  10  as  a  whole. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  115 

Article  11  was  read  by  the  secretary,  and  there  being  no  objec- 
tion was  declared  adopted  by  the  president. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  1  of  Article  12. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  It  seems  to  me  that  there 
might  arise  at  some  time  in  the  sessions  of  .the  Congress  a  desire 
on  the  part  of  the  Congress  to  defer  a  decision  in  selecting  the  place 
of  the  annual  meeting  and  I  would  like  to  ask  you  whether  this 
section  would  prevent  the  Congress  from  referring  that  matter  to 
the  bord  of  directors,  if  at  any  time  in  the  future  it  saw  fit. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Miy  understanding  would  be  that 
whatever  this  Congress  can  do  directly  it  can  do  indirectly  in  matters 
of  that  kind.  Therefore  I  would  assume  that  if  they  can  vote  di- 
rectly for  the  place  they  can  authorize  the  board  of  directors  to 
select  it. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  Section  1 
of  Article  12  as  read  is  declared  adopted. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  2  of  Article  12. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  Section  2  of 
Article  12  as  read  is  declared  adopted. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  move  that  Article  12 
be  adopted  as  a  whole. 

Which  motion  was  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 
Section  1  of  Article  13  was  read  by  Secretary  Mahon. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  section  will  stand  adopted,  there 
being  no  objection. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  2  of  Article  13. 

MR.  HOLMES,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  move  that  this  part  of  Sec- 
tion 2  of  Article  13  be  amended  to  read  as  follows:  "The  first  day's 
session  of  this  Congress  shall  be  under  the  auspices  and  control 
of  the  local  committee  at  the  discretion  of  the  board  of  directors." 

Which  motion  was  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 

It  was  .moved  and  seconded  that  Section  2  of  Article  13  as 
amended  be  adopted,  which  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and 
carried. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Section  3  of  Article  13. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  Section  3  of  Article  13  be 
adopted,  which  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  move  that  Article  13 
be  adopted  as  amended. 

Which  motion  was  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 

Article  14  was  read  by  the  secretary  and  by  the  president  de- 
clared adopted,  there  being  no  objection. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  This  closes  the  discussion  of  the 
by-laws  section  by  section,  except  Article  4  and  we  are  now  ready 
to  take  that  matter  up. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  While  we  are  waiting  I  will  state 
Congress  instructed  the  chair  to  appoint  five  members  to  constitute 
a  committee  to  have  charge  the  next  year  of  organizing  local  mining 
organizations  in  the  various  mining  camps  of  the  country  and  re- 
port this  morning.  In  studying  that  matter  over  it  was  of  so  much 
importance  to  know  who  could  serve  and  meet  their  expenses  that 
the  chair  without  intending  to  disobey  your  instructions,  is  not  yet 
ready  to  report.  I  did  not  know  but  what  we  might  find  some  means 
of  meeting  the  expenses.  For  instance  you  might  select  one  man 
to  do  that  work  and  possibly  make  some  provision  for  his  expenses. 
I  am  not  prepared  as  yet  to  select  that  committee  to  carry  out  the 


116  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

best  interests  of  the  Congress  and  therefore  I  am  not  ready  to  re- 
port unless  you  so  instruct  and  then,  of  course,  I  will  gladly  obey 
and  do  the  best  I  can. 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:  I  would  move  that  Article  4  be 
adopted  as  it  is  printed. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  There  has  already  been  one  amend- 
ment made  substituting  the  word  and  figures  "ten"  (10)  in  place  of 
the  word  and  figures  "fifteen"  (15). 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:     Then  I  move  that  the  section  be 
adopted  as  it  is  printed  with  the  amendment. 
The  motion  was  seconded. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that 
this  section  be  adopted  as  amended. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  feel  as  I  stated  before 
that  there  should  be  no  discrimination  in  this  delegate  representation. 
I  feel  that  boards  of  trade,  chambers  of  commerce,  mayors  of  towns 
and  county  commissioners  should  be  restricted  even  further.  We 
want  a  representation  from  them,  it  is  true,  but  I  believe  that  the 
number  of  their  delegates  should  be  restricted  to  two  instead  of 
three.  Then  I  believe  that  the  mining  organizations,  whether  they 
be  mining  men's  associations  or  miners'  unions  or  scientific  asso- 
ciations, should  be  entitled  to  a  larger  delegation.  I  believe  that  we 
ought  to  maintain  the  delegate  representation  of  this  body.  There  is 
a  danger  if  we  cut  our  representation  down  too  low  in  these  matters 
that  we  will  pass  over  completely  along  the  lines  of  a  scientific  asso- 
ciation and  reach  that  line  of  work;  we  desire  a  delegate  representa- 
tion. Is  there  a  motion  before  the  house? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     There  is  a  motion  before  the  house. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  desire  to  offer  the 
following  as  an  amendment  to  the  proposed  amendment,  as  follows: 
"And  the  mayors  of  cities  or  towns,  boards  of  trade,  boards  of  county 
commissioners,  chambers  of  commerce  and  such  other  business  organi- 
zations as  may  from  time  to  time  be  designated  by  the  executive  com- 
mittee, may  each  appoint  two  such  delegates;  scientific  associations, 
mining  bureaus,  mining  men's  and  miners'  organizations  shall  be  enti- 
tled to  appoint  five  delegates  and  each  delegate  attending  and  prop- 
erly accredited  shall  be  entitled  to  participate  in  the  deliberations  of 
the  Congress." 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:     I  second  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Now,  in  order  that  you  may  under- 
stand clearly  the  question  to  be  voted  upon,  I  will  state  it.  It  has 
been  moved  and  seconded  to  adopt  this  section  as  amended.  The 
amendment  was  in  the  fore  part  of  the  section  by  substituting  "ten" 
in  lieu  of  "fifteen."  Now  it  is  moved  to  amend  that  amendment  so 
that  it  will  read  as  follows:  "And  mayors  of  cities  or  towns.  bonrJs 
of  trade,  boards  of  county  commissioners  and  such  other  business 
organizations  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  designated  by  the  exe- 
cutive committee,  may  each  appoint  two  such  delegates  and  scientific 
associations,  mining  bureaus,  mining  men's  and  miners'  organizations 
shall  be  entitled  to  appoint  five  delegates."  Are  you  ready  for  the 
question? 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not 
wish  to  be  on  the  floor  all  the  time,  but  I  would  like  to  separate  this 
question  of  representation  from  boards  of  trade,  etc.  from  the  ques- 
tion of  the  miners'  representation.  I  think  that  the  house  is  united 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  117 

on  part  of  that  amendment  and  I  would  like  to  ask  the  author  of  the 
amendment  whether  he  will  not  separate  it  in  that  way,  so  that 
they  may  be  voted  upon  separately. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  we  will  con- 
sider it  separated  into  two  motions  and  vote  upon  the  first  one  now, 
which  is :  "And  the  mayors  of  cities  or  towns,  boards  of  trade,  boards 
of  county  commissioners  and  such  other  business  organizations  as 
may  from  time  to  time  be  designated  by  the  executive  committee 
may  each  appoint  two  such  delegates." 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  Well,  I  am  in  favor  of 
doing  the  thing  to  a  finish  when  we  get  at  it.  I  am  in  favor  of 
striking  out  "mayors  of  cities  or  towns,  boards  of  trade,  boards  of 
county  commissioners,  chambers  of  commerce"  and  not  having  a  re- 
presentation from  them,  and  I  make  that  as  a  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  chair  will  be  compelled  to  rule 
it  out  of  order  at  this  time. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  question  now  is  to  amend  the 
amendment  so  as  to  read  as  follows:  "And  mayors  of  cities  or  towns, 
boards  of  trade,  boards  of  county  commissioners  and  such  other 
business  organizations  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  designated  by 
the  executive  committee  may  each  appoint  two  delegates." 

MR.  BROWN  OP  COLORADO:  I  rather  insist  that  we  should 
adopt  this  as  it  is  printed.  I  find  that  there  is  a  tendency  for  a  good 
many  men  to  come  to  these  Congresses  and  to  all  public  meetings 
that  have  no  organization  definitely  arranged,  to  present  the  most 
extraordinary  things.  As  a  member  of  the  resolutions  committee  of 
the  Trans  Mississippi  Congress  for  several  years,  our  principal  busi- 
ness has  been  to  turn  down  resolutions  and  this  question  is  going  to 
come  up  this  way;  we  are  drifting  along  towards  socialistic  lines 
in  sections  of  the  country. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  M*.  Brown,  the  question  is  not  perti- 
nent to  the  one  you  are  about  to  vote  upon;  it  is  proposed  to  reduce 
the  representation  of  boards  of  county  commissioners  and  so  on 
from  three  to  two. 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:     Well,  I  am  opposed  to  that. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Then  confine  yourself  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  that. 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:  These  will  be  men  representing 
the  community  and  most  likely  a  majority  of  them  will  be  appointed 
in  that  way;  in  some  of  our  great  mining  camps  there  are  no  miners' 
organizations  or  mining  men's  associations  and  there  would  be  no 
delegation  here  at  all  in  case  you  deprive  the  boards  of  county  com- 
missioners, mayors  of  cities  and  so  forth,  from  appointing  delegates 
to  this  Congress,  so  that  the  change  that  is  recommended  would  be 
all  wrong;  it  would  take  away  the  delegation  from  a  great  many 
mining  camps  by  not  allowing  the  mayors  or  commissioners  to 
select  a  delegation  to  represent  them.  I  think  the  article  as  printed 
is  as  it  should  be  and  the  committee  evidently  has  given  a  good  deal 
of  thought  to  this  subject,  and  I  move  you  that  all  amendments  or 
proposed  amendments  be  laid  on  the  table. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

MR.  LYNCH,  OF  MONTANA:  I  believe  that  we  have  all  been 
agreeing  but  not  quite  understanding  each  other  in  our  amendments. 
I  move  you  now  that  Article  4  be  amended  so  as  to  insert  the  word  and 
figure  "two"  (2)  instead  of  the  word  and  figure  "three"  (3). 


118  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO :     I  second  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  to 
insert  the  word  "two"  and  the  figure  "2"  in  lieu  of  the  word  "three" 
and  the  figure  "3."  Are  you  ready  for  the  question? 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  simply  wish  to  say  with  re- 
gard to  the  delegate  membership  that  I  have  always  had  a  feeling, 
and  I  still  maintain  that  feeling,  that  I  believe  was  expressed  in  exe- 
cutive committee  meeting,  that  it  was  hardly  in  keeping  with  the 
dignity,  if  I  may  use  that  word,  of  this  American  Mining  Congress 
that  we  should  request  the  mayors  of  cities  or  towns,  boards  of  trade, 
boards  of  county  commissioners  or  miners'  organizations  to  appoint 
delegates;  I  believe  that  our  delegate  membership  should  come  from 
county,  state  and  territory  and  from  bureaus  of  mines  and  mining, 
scientific  organizations  and  mining  men's  associations,  and  I  would 
therefore  move  you  as  an  amendment  to  the  amendment  made  by 
the  gentleman  from  Montana  that  the  words  "and  mayors  of  cities 
or  towns,  boards  of  trade,  boards  of  county  commissioners,  chambers 
of  commerce  and  miners'  organizations"  be  stricken  out  of  this  article 
and  there  be  added  in  lieu  thereof  "mining  men's  associations." 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:      I  second  the  amendment. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that 
the  amendment  be  amended  to  read  as  follows:  "And  the  mayors  of 
cities  or  towns,  boards  of  trade,  boards  of  county  commissioners, 
miners'  organizations  and  chambers  of  commerce"  be  stricken  out 
and  insert  in  lieu  thereof  "mining  men's  associations." 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  remem- 
bering the  suggestion  of  the  gentleman  from  Colorado  that  there  are 
mining  camps  without  mining  men's  associations,  I  desire  to  say 
I  regret  such  a  situation  very  much.  I  would  like  to  see  a  mining 
men's  association  in  every  county,  every  section  of  the  state  and  in 
every  state,  but  it  would  seem  to  me  that  it  would  be  right  to 
render  it  impossible  for  those  representative  men  interested  activly 
as  they  are  in  mining,  from  obtaining  some  appointments,  and  if  this 
power  is  taken  away  from  the  mayors,  county  commissioners,  boards 
of  trade  and  chambers  of  commerce  entirely,  that  will  be  the  result. 
Those  people  are  entitled  to  their  representation.  Again,  in  cities 
like  Omaha,  St.  Paul  and  other  large  cities  there  are  many  gentlemen 
very  actively  interested  in  mining;  it  might  be  they  would  not  re- 
ceive an  appointment  from  the  governor  and  there  is  no  mining  men's 
organizations  or  miners'  unions  in  those  cities;  if  they  have  no 
power  to  receive  an  appointment  in  this  way  they  may  not  appear 
as  a  delegate  and  for  reasons  of  their  own  they  may  choose  to  ap- 
pear as  a  delegate  rather  than  a  member,  and  I  am  opposed  positively 
and  decidedly  to  taking  away  that  power  entirely  from  the  mayors, 
boards  of  county  commissioners  and  chambers  of  commerce.  I  would 
limit  it  to  two,  but  I  would  not  take  it  away  entirely. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  would  like  to  say  that  if 
there  is  a  locality  which  is  interested  in  mining  it  will  be  an  incentive 
for  them  to  organize  a  mining  men's  association  so  that  they  may 
have  a  representation  at  this  Congress.  They  can  at  any  time  be- 
come a  member  of  this  organization  if  they  are  sufficiently  interested 
in  mining  and  have  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  membership, 
even  if  they  are  from  St.  Paul  or  any  other  city  in  the  East  or  West. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  am  opposed  to  both  of 
these  amendments  and  if  we  are  not  intending  to  enlarge  the  repre- 
sentation from  the  strictly  mining  organizations  or  mining  men, 
I  am  entirely  in  favor  of  the  original  motion  which  is  to  adopt  the 
section  as  it  now  is  amended,  reducing  the  representations  appointed 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  119 

by  governors  to  ten  and  leaving  the  balance  of  the  section  as  it  is. 
I  have  attended  now  three  of  these  Congresses  up  to  the  present 
time;  it  has  been  entirely  a  delgate  session.  At  the  last  meeting  it 
was  endeavored  to  give  permanency  to  the  organization  by  incorpora- 
tion and  adoption  of  by-laws,  which  we  are  now  doing.  Those  en- 
gaged in  that  task  realize  it  was  vastly  important  to  preserve  in  its 
broadest  scope  the  delegate  representation.  The  time  .may  come 
when  you  have  got  sufficient  men  to  come  here,  strictly  from  miners' 
organizations  and  to  have  no  other  representation  at  all,  but  thus 
far  you  have  not  been  suffering  by  over  representation  of  delegates. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  very  important  that  delegates  appointed  by 
mayors,  etc.  should  attend  the  Congress  and  come  in  contact  with 
the  active  work.  My  observation  from  attending  three  sessions  of 
the  Congress  is  that  we  are  more  in  need  of  enlarging  our  repre- 
sentation to  this  Congress  than  of  decreasing  it.  I  am,  therefore, 
in  favor  of  three  delegates  to  be  appointed  by  mayors,  boards  of 
trade,  etc.  as  it  has  been  and  if  I  could  increase  it  I  would  be  in 
favor  of  doing  so. 

MR.  DONALDSON,  OF  COLORADO:  I  am  in  favor  of  three 
at  the  present  time.  I  wouldn't  have  been  appointed  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  mining  committee  of  the  chamber  of  commerce,  and  the 
mining  committee  is  annually  appointed  by  the  president  of  the  cham- 
ber of  commerce  and  that  is  the  last  we  hear  of  it  unless  there  is 
something  like  this  comes  up. 

MR.  SELB1E,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  It  appears  to  me  that 
since  this  Congress  has  been  put  on  a  corporate  basis,  that  what 
we  ought  to  do  is  to  work  up  a  large  membership  all  over  the  United 
States  and  confine  our  representation  to  strict  members  of  the  Con- 
gress. I  believe  the  Congress  can  be  increased  by  proper  effort  all 
over  the  country  and  let  our  representation  come  from  the  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  not  from  the  outside.  I  am  in  favor  of  confining  it 
to  members  of  this  Congress  and  working  up  a  large  membership. 

MR.  GOODNER,   OF  WISCONSIN:      Just  as  an   example  of  the 

difference  between  the  delegate  system  and  the  membership  system, 
I  want  to  state  this,  which  is  correct  as  far  as  my  knowledge  goes, 
that  there  were  twenty-three  delegates  appointed  from  Wisconsin; 
of  those  twenty-three  one  person  was  already  a  member  of  this  Con- 
gress ;  of  the  twenty-three  so  appointed  but  one  person  has  attended 
the  Congress  and  that  one  is  the  one  who  is  already  sufficiently  in- 
terested to  be  a  member. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  It  seems  to  me  the  propo- 
sition as  I  gather  it  is  the  stimulation  of  this  Congress  and  to  get 
that  stimulation  is  the  question.  I  contended  this ,  morning  at  the 
outset  that  we  wanted  to  increase  the  dignity  of  this  Congress  and 
by  so  doing  we  wanted  to  increase  the  quality  of  the  members  that 
were  nominated  to  come  here  and  thereby  reduce  the  quantity.  I 
think  I  made  the  suggestion  that  we  reduce  the  number  from  fifteen 
to  ten  and  the  Congress  adopted  the  amendment.  Now  speakms: 
about  stimulation;  if  you  ask  every  organization,  state  and  town  and 
everybody  to  send  members  here  or  delegates  here,  it  is  too  common. 
People  don't  care  to  come;  do  you  know  you  won't  go  where  you 
are  invited  to  gc  for  nothing?  If  you  put  the  price  up  to  get  into 
this  hall  at  $1.50  you  will  find  the  hall  filled  right  from  Lead  here;, 
they  would  think  we  have  something  to  show.  Don't  make  it  so 
common  that  everybody  can  get  in;  let  the  man  that  has  an  interest 
here  put  up  his  five  dollars  and  become  a  member  and  he  will  then 
feel  some  interest. 

MR.  GARBER.  OF  WASHINGTON:  It  seems  to  me,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, that  the  membership  in  the  American  Mining  Congress  comes 
very  cheap  when  you  can  get  it  for  a  dollar.  Any  man  that  wants 


120  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

to  come  to  the  American  Mining  Congress  can  have  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  a  delegate  to  this  Congress  for  the  price  of  a  dollar. 
I  want  to  ask  who  has  the  most  dignity,  the  man  that  comes  to  this 
Congress  a  representative  of  a  board  of  commerce  of  his  city  or 
the  man  who  reaches  down  in  his  pocket  and  pays  his  dues  an- 
nually and  comes  in  here;  which  is  the  least  likely  to  be  the  repre- 
sentative man  of  his  district?  The  chambers  of  commerce  of  this 
country  have  done  more  towards  building  up  the  mining  industry 
of  this  country  than  any  other  organization  probably  in  existence. 
Those  men  sit  there  day  after  day  and  night  after  night  without 
pay,  going  without  sleep,  sending  out  literature  of  their  districts  and 
bringing  immigration,  capital  and  investment  to  their  cities.  Do  you 
wish  to  bar  chambers  of  commerce  who  are  daily  doing  the  work 
that  this  body  seems  to  do  for  membership  here.  If  you  want  to 
become  an  exclusive  body,  an  exclusive  four  hundred  if  you  please, 
I  think,  Mr.  President,  you  are  going  to  make  a  mistake.  We  cannot 
afford  to  ignore  chambers  of  commerce  and  governors  of  states  and 
executives  of  counties.  There  was  even  a  motion  made  here  to 
ignore  the  agricultural  interests  of  this  country  a  few  minutes  ago. 
Some  have  even  intimated  that  no  farmer  was  interested  in  mining 
stock.  It  might  be  so  in  some  states,  but  in  the  state  of  Washington 
there  is  many  a  farmer  who  has  enough  gray  matter  up  here  in  his 
cranium  to  invest  in  mining  stocks.  Now  you  are  not  over- 
flooded  here  with  delegates.  It  looks  to  me  if  you  could  take 
every  chair  in  this  hall,  if  you  could  fill  that  gallery  and  have  no 
standing  room,  that  the  American  Mining  Congress  would  go  up  in 
the  estimation  of  the  world  50  per  cent  to  say  the  least  of  it.  Let 
us  seek  to  bring  representative  men  of  the  country  to  this  Congress 
and  the  only  way  to  get  them  is  to  get  them  through  chambers  of 
commerce,  executives  of  cities  and  counties,  because  they  will  not 
appoint  a  man  that  is  not  a  representative  man  to  come  here.  A 
tramp  might  get  in  here  for  a  dollar  if  you  did  not  know  his  past, 
record,  but  a  man  can't  get  an  appointment  from  a  chamber  of  com- 
merce unless  he  has  some  one  to  recommend  him. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  question  now  is  with  reference 
to  the  amendment  to  strike  out  the  words  "mayors  of  cities  or  towns, 
boards  of  trade,  boards  of  county  commissioners,  chambers  of  com- 
merce" and  inserting  the  words  "mining  men's  associations."  Are 
you  ready  for  the  question? 

The  motion  was  lost. 

.  PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  recurs  now  to  the  original  motion 
to  insert  the  figure  and  word  "two"  (2)  in  lieu  of  the  word  and  figure 
"three"  (3). 

The  motion  was  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  You  will  now  vote  on  the  motion  to 
adopt  the  section  as  amended  as  a  whole. 

The  motion  was  carried. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  by-laws  be  adopted  as 
amended  as  a  whole,  which  motion  was  carried  and  the  by-laws  as 
amended  were  adopted. 

MR.  THORNBY,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  move  that  we  adjourn 
to  1 : 30,  September  llth,  1903. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Before  that  motion  is  put, 
I  desire  to  state  that  the  committee  on  resolutions  have  finished  their 
work  so  far  as  the  resolutions  that  have  been  referred  to  them  are  con- 
cerned, and  will  be  ready  to  report  at  such  time  as  Congress  will 
be  ready  to  receive  their  report. 

Mr.  Russell  announced  the  program  for  the  afternoon  on  behalf 
of  Mr.  Elder,  the  chairman  of  the  program  committee. 

The  motion  to  adjourn  was  carried  and  the  meeting  was  ad- 
journed until  1:30,  September  llth,  1903. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  121 


By-Laws  of  the  American  Mining  Congress 


OFFICERS. 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  President,  Boise,  Idaho. 
S.  W.  Russell,  First  Vice-President,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 
E.  R.  Buckley,  Second  Vice-President  Rolla,  Mo. 
Thomas  Ewing,  Third  Vice-President,  Los  Angeles,  Cala. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  Boise,  Idaho. 

S.  W.  Russell,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

E.  R.  Buckley,  Rolla,  Mo. 

Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  Los  Angeles,  Cala. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Carlis^  Pa. 

Charles  W.  Goodale,  Butte,  Mont. 

J.  Frank  Watson,  Oregon. 

W.  L.  Kendall,  Cleveland,  O. 

L.  K.  Armstrong,  Spokane,  Wash. 

Submitted   for   approval   by   Executive   Committee   in   session   at 
Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  December  17,  18  and  19,  1902. 

J.  H.  RICHARDS,  President. 

IRWIN  MAHON, 

Secretary  of  the  Congress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY, 

Secretary  Executive  Com. 


122  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 


BY-LAWS. 


ARTICLE    I. 

•NAME. 

This  organization  shall  be  known  as  "The  American  Mining 
Congress." 

ARTICLE  II. 

OBJECTS. 

This  corporation  is  formed  for  Ihe  purpose  of  advancing  the 
mining  and  metallurgical  industries,  in  all  their  various  branches, 
within  the  United  States. 

To  assist  in  bringing  about  a  more  perfect  co-operation  between 
the  government  of  the  United  States  and  the  development  of  mining 
and  metallurgy;  to  encourage  education  in  practical  and  scientific 
mining  and  metallurgy  and  the  dissemination  of  scientific  information 
in  relation  to  mining,  metallurgy  and  their  allied  industries;  to  ac- 
quire and  disseminate  trustworthy  information  bearing  upon  the 
development  of  the  metallic  and  non-metallic  mining  resources  of  the 
United  States;  to  promote  a  more  co-operative  tendency  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  agriculture,  mining,  manufacturing,  transportation  and  com- 
merce; and  for  the  particular  purpose  of  bringing  the  mining  men 
of  the  United  States  into  closer  relation  with  one  another,  and  of 
promoting  a  freindly  feeling  for  one  another  through  social  inter- 
course and  the  discussion  of  mutual  interests. 

ARTICLE  III. 
MEMBERSHIP. 

Section  1.  Any  person  actively  associated  with  mining,  who, 
after  his  application  has  been  approved  by  the  committee  on  mem- 
bership, shall  pay  an  initiation  fee  of  five  ($5.00)  dollars,  shall  be- 
come an  active  member  of  this  Congress  and  thereafter  he  shall  pay 
in  advance  an  annual  fee  of  two  dollars  ($2.00)  and  shall  vote  and 
enjoy  all  other  rights  and  privileges  usual  to  members. 

Section  2.  Any  person  entitled  to  active  membership  in  this 
Congress  may,  upon  the  payment  of  fifty  dollars  ($50.00),  become  a 
life  member,  and  shall,  without  the  payment  of  further  annual  dues, 
be  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  active  membership. 

Section  3.  Any  person  actively  associated  with  mining,  with  the 
approval  of  the  committee  on  membership,  shall,  upon  the  payment 
o£a  fee  of  one  dollar  ($1.00)  per  annum,  become  an  associate  member 
of  this  Congress,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  attend  the  sessions  and 
participate  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Congress,  but  shall  not  be  en- 
titled to  vote  or  hold  office. 

Section  4.  Honorary  membership  may  be  conferred  upon  each 
penons  as  this  Congress  shall  deem  worthy  of  such  distinction. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  }23 

Honorary  members  may  be  elected  at  any  regular  meeting  of  .the  Con- 
gress upon  the  recommendation  of  the  committee  on  membership 
and  the  approval  of  the  board  of  directors. 

Section  5.  No  person  who  shall  comply  with  the  requirements 
of  this  article  shall  be  denied  membership  to  this  Congress. 

ARTICLE  IV. 
DELEGATES. 

A  chief  executive  of  any  country,  state  or  territory  may  appoint 
as  delegates  to  any  annual  session  of  this  Congress,  fifteen  (15)  per- 
sons actively  associated  with  mining;  and  the  mayors  of  cities  or 
towns,  boards  of  trade,  beards  of  county  commissioners,  scientific 
associations,  miners'  organizations,  mining  bureaus,  chambers  of 
Commerce,  and  such  other  business  organizations  as  may  from  time 
to  time  be  designated  by  the  executive)  committee,  may  each  appoint 
three  such  delegates,  and  each  delegate,  attending  properly  accredited 
shall  be  entitled  to  participate  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Congress. 

ARTICLE  V. 
DUES. 

Life  members  shall  pay  a  fee  of  fifty  ($50.00)  dollars;  members, 
an  initiation  fee  of  five  ($5.00)  dollars  and  annual  dues  of  two  ($2.00) 
dollars;  associate  members,  annual  dues  of  one  ($1.00)  dollar;  and 
delegates,  nothing. 

ARTICLE  VI. 
OFFICERS. 

Section  1.  The  government  and  management  of  the  Congress 
shall  be  committed,  first,  to  a  board  of  directors  of  nine  members, 
to  be  elected  annually  by  the  Congress;  second,  to  a  president  and 
three  vice-presidents,  to  be  elected  by  the  board  of  directors  from  its 
members;  and,  third,  to  a  secretary  and  treasurer,  to  be  chosen  by  the 
board  of  directors. 

Section  2.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  directors  to  an- 
nually elect  as  president,  vice-presidents,  secretary,  and  treasurer, 
such  persons  as  may  be  recommended  by  the  Congress. 

Section  3.  For  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  selection  of  officers, 
there  shall  be  annually  elected  by  the  Congress  at  its  second  day's 
session,  a  committee  of  five  members  to  be  known  as  a  nominating 
committee,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  present  to  the  Congress  for 
its  consideration  the  names  of  such,  persons  as  such  committee  may 
deem  advisable  to  act  as  directors  and  officers  of  the  Congress  for  the 
ensuing  year. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS. 

Section  -1.  The  board  of  directors  shall  have  power  to  do  every 
act  and  thing  which  the  business  interests  of  the  Congress  may  re- 
quire except  to  amend  or  repeal  these  by-laws,  but  nothing  in  these 
by-laws  shall  give  the  board  of  directors  the  right  to  do  any  act 
or  thing  that  is  contrary  to  any  motion  or  resolution  adopted  at  any 
previous  meeting  of  the  Congress  or  that  is  contrary  to  any  of  the 
provisions  of  the  charter  of  this  Congress  or  of  the  by-laws.  No 
person  shall  be  eligible  to  be  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors 
or  10  hold  any  other  office  in  this  Congress,  except  an  active  member 
of  this  association  in  good  standing. 


124  OFFICIAL,    PROCEEDINGS 

Section  2.  A  vacancy  occurring  in  an  office  or  in  the  board  of 
directors  shall  be  filled  by  the  remaining  members  of  the  board, 
and  the  officer  or  member  of  the  board  so  elected  shall  hold  office  until 
the  next  annual  meeting  or  until  his  successor  is  elected. 

Section  3.  The  president  shall  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the 
Congress  and  of  the  board  of  directors  and  shall  enforce  all  the  laws 
the  regulations  of  the  Congress.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Con- 
gress he  shall  report  for  the  board  of  directors  upon  its  proceedings 
during  the  year  and  recommend  such  measures  as  the  board  may  deem 
advisable. 

Section  4.  In  the  absence  of  the  president,  the  first  vice-presi- 
dent shall  perform  his  duties;  in  the  absence  of  both  president  anrl 
first  vice-president,  the  second  vice-president  shall  perform  the  duties 
of  the  office;  in  the  absence  of  the  president  and  first  and  second 
\ice-presidents,  the  third  vice-president  shall  preside  and  perform 
the  duties  of  the  office;  and  in  the  absence  of  the  president  and  vice 
presidents,  the  board  of  directors  may  select  a  chairman  from  its 
members. 

Section  5.  The  secretary  shall  conduct  all  of  the  official  cor- 
respondence of  the  Congress.  He  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  meetings 
and  proceedings  of  the  Congress  and  the  board  of  directors;  shall 
collect  all  moneys  due  to  the  Congress,  receipt  for  and  transmit  the 
same  to  the  treasurer;  and  shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  may  be 
assigned  to  him  by  these  by-laws,  by  the  Congress  or  by  the  board. 
At  the  annual  meeting  he  shall  report  in  detail  upon  the  membership 
and  condition  of  the  Congress. 

Section  6.  The  treasurer  shall  receive  all  moneys  from  the  sec- 
retary, pay  all  bills  as  directed  by  the  president  and  countersigned 
by  the  secretary  and  keep  proper  vouchers  for  all  payments.  He 
shall,  at  each  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors,  present  a  statement 
of  the  financial  condition  of  the  Congress  and  shall  at  the  annual 
meeting  submit  a  detailed  report,  approved  by  the  finance  committee: 
and  the  said  statement  and  reports  shall,  at  all  times  after  their 
presentation  or  submission,  be  open  to  tthe  inspection  of  any  of  the 
members  of  the  Congress. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 
COMMITTEES. 

Section  1.  The  following  additional  committees  shall  be  elected 
by  the  board  of  directors: 

An  advisory  committee,  to  be  composed  of  one  member  from 
each  state. 

A  committee  on  legislation,  of  five  members. 

A  committee  on  .membership,  of  seven  members; 

A  committee  on  transportation,  of  five  members; 

A  committee  on  auditing  and  finance,  of  five  members; 

A  committee  on  program  of  five  members,  to  which  committee 
each  paper  to  be  presented  before  any  meeting  of  the  Congress  shall 
be  submitted  for  approval  in  advance  of  said  meeting,  except  such 
papers  as  may  be  presented  on  invitation  of  the  program  committee. 

Section  2.  The  president  shall  appoint  annually,  a  committee 
on  credentials  of  three  members,  and  a  committee  on  resolutions  of 
twenty  members.  The  names  of  the  members  comprising  these  com- 
mittees shall  be  in  the  hands  of  the  secretary  at  the  opening  of  each 
session  of  Congress. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  125 

ARTICLE  IX. 
BONDS  OF  OFFICERS. 

Section  1.  The  treasurer  of  this  Congress  shall  give  bond  for 
an  amount  to  be  determined  by  the  executive  committee,  of  not  less 
than  five  thousand  ($5,000.00)  dollars;  said  bond  to  be  approved  by 
the  executive  committee. 

Section  2.  The  secretary  shall  give  such  bond  as  may  be  re- 
quired by  the  board  of  directors,  not  less  than  one  thousand  ($1,0000 
dollars. 

Section  3.  Bond  fees  of  the  treasurer  and  secretary  shall  be 
paid  by  the  Congress. 

ARTICLE  X. 

PUBLICATIONS. 

Section  1.  There  shall  be  published  annually  a  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  Congress,  including  such  papers,  presented  at  the 
annual  session,  as  may  be  approved  by  the  program  committee,  and  a 
list  of  the  names,  occupation  and  address  of  all  members  and  delegates. 

Section  2.  The  board  of  directors  shall  have  the  proceedings  of 
each  session  copyrighted. 

Section  3.  All  members  and  delegates  shall  be  entitled  to  a 
copy  of  the  proceedings  of  each  annual  session  covered  by  their  dues. 

ARTICLE  XI. 
RESOLUTIONS. 

All  resolutions  shall  be  submitted  to  the  secretary  in  writing, 
read  by  him  before  the  Congress  and  referred  to -the  committee  on 
resolutions  for  consideration  and  recommendations. 

ARTICLE  XII. 
TIME  AND  PLACE  OF  HOLDING  ANINUAL  SESSION. 

Section  1.  The  place  of  holding  the  annual  session  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  the  Congress. 

Section  2.  The  time  of  holding  the  annual  meeting  shall  be 
determined  by  the  board  of  directors. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 
ORDER    OF    PROCEEDINGS. 

Section  1.  The  sessions  of  this  Congress  shall  be  governed  by 
Roberts'  Rules  of  Order. 

Section  2.  The  first  day's  session  of  this  Congress  shall  be  under 
the  auspices  and  control  of  the  local  committee.  The  order  of  busi- 
ness for  the  remaining  sessions  shall  be  as  follows: 

1.  Report  of  committee  on  credentials. 

2.  Unfinished  business. 

3.  New  business. 

4.  Reading  of  resolutions. 

5.  Reports  of  committees. 

6.  Addresses  and  papers. 

7.  Adjournment. 


126  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

Section  3.  The  selection  of  a  place  of  holding  the  next  session 
of  the  Congress  shall  be  a  special  order  for  2  o'clock  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  last  day.  This  shall  be  followed  by  tne  election  of  the 
board  of  directors  and  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  addressed  to  the 
board  of  directors  naming  those  to  be  elected  by  the  board  as  officers 
of  the  Congress  for  the  ensuing  year. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 
AMENDMENTS. 

These  by-laws  may  be  amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  mem- 
bers present  upon  twenty-four  hours'  notice  in  writing  containing  the 
amendment  proposed. 


Lead,  South  Dakota,  September  llth,  1903,  1:30  P.  M. 
PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     Congress  will  be  in  order. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  hear  the  report  from 
the  committee  on  resolutions. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Mr.  President,  the  com- 
mittee on  resolutions  have  considered  the  various  resolutions  re- 
ferred to  it  by  the  Congress  and  will  report  them  in  order.  As  to  the 
following  resolution  introduced  by  Mr.  Ed.  F.  Browne,  the  committee 
recommends  its  adoption  by  the  Congress: 

RESOLUTION   CALLING   FOR   THE   ESTABLISHMENT    OF   A   DE- 
PARTMENT  OF   MINING. 

Resolved,  That  we  call  upon  congress  to  pass  the  necessary  leg- 
islation that  would  create  a  Department  of  Mining  along  the  same 
lines  as  the  Agriculture  Department  is  at  present  established. 

That  this  department  be  made  one  of  the  executive  departments 
of  the  goverr-ment,  with  a  member  of  the  cabinet  at  its  head. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Browne,  of  Colorado,  and  seconded  by  Mr. 
Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  that  the  resolution  be  adopted,  which  motion 
was  carried. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  committee  also  re- 
conr  mends  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  relative  to  the 
mineral  statistics: 

RESOLUTION    RELATIVE    TO    THE    COLLECTION    OF    MINERAL 

STATISTICS. 

To  the  President: 

The  members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  realize  that 
the  mineral  statistics  of  the  country  can  be  intelligently  and  accu- 
rately collected  only  by  persons  familiar  with  mineral  and  mining 
conditions;  and  they  believe  that  the  work  of  government  in  re- 
lation to  mining  interests  should  be  concentrated  and  strengthened, 
and  not  weakened  by  the  separation  in  integral  parts,  and, 

Whereas,  it  has  been  proposed  that  the  president  of  the  United 
States,  acting  under  the  authority  recently  conferred  upon  him  by 
congress,  should  remove  from  the  geological  survey  the  work  of 
collecting  the  mineral  statistics  of  the  country  and  transfer  the 
?arae  to  the  newly  established  Department  of  Commerce;  it  is 
therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  American  Mining  Congress  respectfully  peti- 
tions the  president  that  he  permit  the  collection  of  mineral  statistics 
to  remain  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  geological  survey;  and  further, 

Resolved,  That  this  Mining  Congress  asks  the  president  to  use 
his  influence  to  so  strengthen  and  enlarge  the  work  of  tnis  branch  of 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  127 

the  government  service  that  it  may  the  better  meet  the  various  needs 
of  our  rapidly  growing  and  complex  mining  industry. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Brown,  of  Colorado,  and  duly  seconded 
that  the  resolution  be  adopted,  which  motion  was  carried. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  committee  also  re- 
commends the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution: 

Whereas,  in  the  report  of  the  Treasury  Department  giving  the 
classification  of  exports  for  1902-1903  the  following  audits  were  given 
the  different  industries,  viz.: 

Agriculture   $873,285,142  62.72  per  cent. 

Manufactures   408,187,207  29.32  per  cent. 

Mining   38,814,759  2.79  per  cent 

Forest    57,830,778  4.15  per  cent. 

Fishery    7,755,232  .56  per  cent. 

Miscellaneous 6,328,579  .46  per  cent. 


$1,392,201,637       100.00  per  cent. 

And  in  the  same  report  the   following  articles  are  specified 
having  been  exported: 

Brick $      429,908 

Cement 419,351 

Coal   21,206,498 

Coke 1,912,459 

Copper  ore 927,417 

Copper  ingots  and  bars   37,356,061 

Phosphates   6,344,224 

Iron  ore   266,982 

Pig  iron 362,068 

Ingots  and  blooms  68,064 

Lead  pigs  and  bars   15,527 

Lime 32;694 

Marble,  stone  and  slate  1,565,244 

Nickle  and  matte  864,221 

Mineral  oil 6,329,899 

Mineral  oil  refined  60,357,519 

Mineral  residium    566,115 

Quicksilver •  -. 762,201 

Salt   '. '. 70,446 

Zinc 1,386,694 


$141,241,602' 

And  whereas,  it  is  evident  that  all  of  the  foregoing  items  should 
have  been  credited  to  the  exports  of  mining  product  and  not  to  manu- 
factures, thus  making  the  amount  of  mining  products  exported  react 
$141,241,602  instead  of  $38,814,759  or  10.15  per  cent  of  the  aggregate 
of  articles  exported  instead  of  2.79  as  reported,  it  is 

Resolved,  that  this  Mining  Congress  calls  attention  of  the 
statisticians  at  Washington  to  the  fact  that  great  quantities  of  the 
production  of  mines,  through  an  error,  is  being  credited  to  exports 
of  manufactures,  and  that  we  earnestly  request  that  a  change  be 
made  which  will  allow  our  official  statistics  to  credit  to  the  mining 
industry  these  products  which  are  directly  the  result  of  mining. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  and  duly  seconded 
that  the  resolution  be  adopted,  which  motion  was  carried. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  next  is  a  resolution 
asking  the  congress  of  the  United  States  to  enact  a  law  to  establish 
mining  experimental  stations  to  aid  in  the  development  of  the  mineral 
resources  of  the  Unitea  States  and  for  other  purposes.  Upon  the 


128  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

back  of  this  resolution  is  an  endorsement:  "To  establish  mining  ex- 
periment stations  to  aid  in  development  of  the  mineral  resources  of 
the  United  States,  and  for  other  purposes,"  in  the  form  of  a  legislative 
act,  introduced  by  James  A.  George.  The  committee  entirely  favored 
ths  purposes  of  the  proposed  bill  and  have  prepared  what  they  re- 
commend as  a  substitute  resolution,  embodying  practically  the  form 
of  the  resolution  with  a  little  addition,  expressive  of  the  purposes 
of  the  bill,  but  without  going  into  the  details  of  the  bill  in  its  en- 
tirety in  the  report. 

The  following  is  the  resolution  submitted  and  following  that  is 
the  resolution  proposed  by  the  committee: 

SUBSTITUTE  RESOLUTION. 

Resolved,  That  the  congress  of  the  United  States  be  asked  to 
enact  a  law  to  establish  mining  experiment  stations  in  the  various 
mining  states  of  the  union  to  aid  in  the  development  of  the  mineral 
resources  of  the  United  States,  the  benefits  of  which  shall  be  gratui- 
tously furnished  to  prospectors  and  others  engaged  in  the  discovery 
and  development  of  mines. 

The  resolution  submitted  by  the  committee  on  -resolutions  was 
adopted. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  following  resolution 
upon  the  subject  of  improved  roads  is  also  recommended  by  the 
committee  on  resolutions: 

RESOLUTION. 

Recognizing  that  properly  constructed  highways  are  vitally  im- 
portant to  the  highest  development  of  the  mining  industry  and  be- 
lieving that  the  state  and  the  nation  which  share  in  the  benefits 
should  contribute  their  equitable  proportion  of  the  cost;  therefore, 
be  it 

Resolved  by  the  American  Mining  Congress  in  convention  as- 
sembled at  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  S.  D.,  that  we*  emphati- 
cally approve  a  system  of  highway  improvement  under  competent 
engineering  supervision,  embodying  the  general  principles  of  state  aid, 
now  successfully  practiced  in  many  of  the  older  states;  and  that  we 
believe  that  the  general  government  ought  in  equity  to  assume  its 
pro  rata  of  the  burden  of  cost;  and  we  request  the  active  support  of 
our  representatives  in  congress  for  this  policy. 

JAMES  W.    ABBOTT, 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  and  seconded  by 
Col.  Ewing,  of  California,  that  the  resolution  be  adopted,  which  motion 
was  carried. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  adoption  of  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  is  recommended: 

RESOLUTION  AS  TO  MINERALIZED  TIMBER  LANDS. 

It  is  hereby  resolved  by  the  American  Mining  Congress  in  conven- 
tion assembled,  at  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  in  the  year  A. 
D.  1903,  that,  whereas, 

(Under  what  is  known  as  the  Timber  and  Stone  Act,  a  statute  of  the 
United  States  meritorious  in  itself  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was 
enacted,  great  abuses  of  the  privileges  granted  thereby  are  being  con- 
stantly practiced  by  many  of  those  who  are  availing  themselves  of  its 
benefits  in  that  in  the  mining  states  and  territories  vast  tracts  of  land 
are  being  secured  by  timber  speculators  and  syndicates  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  various  mineral  sections,  some  of  which  tracts  are  known 
to  be  mineral  in  character,  and  other  tracts  are  so  situated  with  refer- 
ence to  known  mineral  lands  as  to  create  a  positive  conclusion  that 
they  too  are  mineral  lands,  and,  whereas, 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  129 

Under  the  land  grants  by  the  United  States  government  to 
territories  at  the  time  of  their  admission  into  the  union  as  states, 
more  or  less  of  such  timber  lands  are  granted  to  such  new  states 
by  right  of  selection,  which  are  afterwards  sold  to  said  timber  specu- 
lators by  the  states,  and,  whereas, 

Said  practices  are  daily  withdrawing  from  the  people  their 
heritage  of  undeveloped  mineral  wealth,  vesting  the  same  at  a  nomi- 
nal price,  in  great  syndicates  not  identified  with  the  mining  industry, 
and  in  whose  possession  such  lands  are  likely  to  remain  after  the 
removal  of  the  timber  therefrom  for  an  unknown  period  of  time, 
without  development  of  the  mineral  possibilities  therein,  to  the  serious 
detriment  of  the  mining  industry  and  of  commerce,  and  greatly  cur- 
tailing the  natural  limit  of  the  mining  field  as  created  by  nature. 

Now,  therefore,  we  hereby  declare  that  this  Congress  views  with 
alarm  the  said  practices  and  subversion  of  the  law  from  its  real 
and  beneficent  intent  to  selfish  and  speculative  designs,  detrimental 
to  the  mining  industry  and  the  public  welfare,  and  hereby  petition 
the  congress  of  the  United  States  at  its  earliest  convenience  to  make 
such  enactments  of  United  States  law,  that  all  United  States  grants, 
or  sales  of  timber  or  stone  lands  in  the  mining  states  and  territories, 
whether  to  states,  territories,  individuals  or  corporations,  shall  pro- 
vide that  the  purchaser  or  grantee  only  shall  have  the  right  to  re- 
move timber  or  stone  from  such  lands,  all  mineral  rights  to  be  re- 
served to  the  United  States  government  together  with  such  lands, 
the  same  to  be  disposed  of  to  the  mineral  claimant,  and  subject  to 
the  prospecting  rights  as  other  mineral  lands  of  the  United 
States,  subject  only  to  the  right  of  the  grantee  or  purchaser,  by  other 
than  the  mining  acts,  to  remove  the  timber  or  stone  for  which  the 
grantee  or  purchaser  secured  such  timber  or  stone  lands. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  seconded  by  Mr. 
Ewing,  of  California,  that  the  resolution  be  adopted,  which  motion 
was  carried. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  following  resolution 
is  proposed  for  adoption: 

To  the  President  of  the  Senate  and  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  Washington: 

In  view  of  the  incalculable  benefits  to  agriculture  that  have  come 
from  the  establishment  of  agricultural  schools  and  experimental 
stations,  and, 

In  view  of  the  increasing  importance  and  complexity  of  the 
mining  interests  as  the  other  basal  industry  of  the  country; 

Resolved,  That  the  American  Mining  Congress  respectfully  peti- 
tions the  congress  of  the  United  States  to  provide  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  one  or  more  institutions  in  each  state  and  territory,  the 
purpose  of  which  shall  be  the  giving  of  instruction  in  subjects  relating 
to  mining  and  metallurgy,  and  for  carrying  on  investigations  in 
these  subjects. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  seconded  by  Mr. 
Ewing,  of  California,  that  the  resolution  be  adopted,  which  motion 
was  carried. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  following  resolution 
as  amended  is  proposed  for  adoption: 

"Resolved,  That  the  American  Mining  Congress,  assembled  in 
Deadwood  and  Lead  City,  protests  against  any  legislation  by  this 
country  tending  to  further  restrict  the  use  of  silver  as  real  money 
or  to  drepress  its  value  upon  the  market." 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:     I  accept  the  amendment. 
The  resolution  upon  motion  duly  seconded  was  adopted. 


130  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  following  resolution, 
with  one  modification  which  I  will  refer  to,  is  recommended  for 
adoption:  "That  a  committee  of  five  of  our  active  members  be  selected 
by  our  chair  to  form  a  law  to  derive  means  by  which  suitable  men 
be  employed  to  visit  all  mining  camps  and  organize  local  mining 
organizations  to  co-operate  with  this  Congress  in  obtaining  paid 
members."  The  words  that  we  recommend  to  be  omitted  from  the 
resolution  are  "to  form  a  law."  It  seemed  to  the  committee  that 
the  words  "to  form  a  law"  would  not  add  to  the  strength  of  the 
resolution. 

MR.  DIGNOWITY,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA:  I  accept  the  amend- 
ment and  move  its  adoption. 

The  following  is  the  resolution: 

Resolved,  That  a  committtee  of  five  of  our  active  members  be 
selected  by  our  chair  to  devise  means  by  which  suitable  men  be 
employed  to  visit  all  mining  camps  and  organize  local  mining  or- 
ganizations to  co-operate  with  this  Congress  in  obtaining  paid 
members. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  do  not  know  what  provision  you 
are  going  to  make  yet,  or  what  we  can  make  for  that  committee. 
I  do  not  know  myself  what  that  committee  should  be  composed  of, 
whether  one  or  more;  it  would  depend  upon  the  amount  of  money 
you  have.  As  to  the  question  of  the  number  of  that  committee  I  do 
not  know  what  is  best.  It  strikes  me  that  if  you  make  it  five  and 
only  have  money  enough  for  one,  that  it  is  hardly  proper,  and  perhaps 
it  might  be  well  to  let  the  executive  committee  or  board  of  directors 
determine  the  number  in  proportion  to  the  money  they  have  to  ex- 
pend. I  only  say  this  as  a  suggestion. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  have  given  that  matter  a 
little  thought  since  talking  the  matter  over  with  you  yesterday  and 
I  feel  that  this  committee  should  be  the  advisory  committee  of  the 
American  Mining  Congress;  that  in  reality  we  should  make  a  member 
and  every  member  of  the  advisory  committee  a  member  of  this  com- 
ii.iit.tee,  that  would  mean  one  man  for  each  state  in  the  union.  I  do  not 
believe  that  we  are  going  to  have  sufficient  funds  to  pay  the  ex- 
penses of  any  committee  to  go  through  the  United  States  to  carry 
on  this  work  and  I  think  if  the  executive  committee  are  careful  in  the 
selection  of  their  advisory  committee,  this  committee  might  per- 
form those  duties. 

The  resolution  upon  motion,  duly  seconded,  adopted. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  following  resolution 
has  been  under  consideration  by  the  committee:  "Resolution  favor- 
ing home  -rule  and  statehood  for  the  territories  of  Arizona,  Oklahoma 
and  New  Mexiro.  Resolved  that  we  favor  home  rule  for,  and  the 
immediate  admission  into  the  union  as  states,  the  territories  of 
Arizona,  Oklahoma  and  New  Mexico." 

RESOLUTION   FAVORING   HOME   RULE   AND    STATEHOOD   FOR 
THE  TERRITORIES  OF  ARIZONA,  OKLAHOMA  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 

Resolved,  That  we  favor  home  rule  for,  and  the  immediate  admis- 
sion into  union  as  states,  the  territories  of  Arizona,  Oklahoma  and 
New  Mexico. 

So  far  as  personal  opinions  expressed  by  the  members  of 
the  committee  are  concerned,  I  think  the  committee  practically  is 
entirely  unanimous  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  these  territories, 
but  it  has  seemed  to  the  committee  that  this  resolution  is  not  within 
the  purposes  of  the  rule  of  our  by-laws  and  the  committee  therefore 
reports  back  this  resolution  without  acting  as  not  within  the  purposes 
of  the  Congress. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  131 

The  resolution  was  not  acted  upon  by  the  Congress. 

The  following  resolution  was  recommended  by  the  resolution  com- 
mittee and  adopted  by  the  Congress: 

Whereas,  one  of  the  most  important  achievements  in  the  history 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States  was  consummated  in  the 
year  1805,  by  the  peaceful  occupation  of  the  great  Pacific  Northwest, 
then  and  long  afterward  known  as  the  "Oregon  Territory,"  by  the 
expedition  sent  by  President  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  headed  by  Cap- 
tains Merriweather  Lewis  and  William  Clark,  and, 

Whereas,  the  acquisition  of  the  said  "Oregon  Territory,"  com- 
prising the  present  states  of  Oregon,  Washington  and  Idaho,  and 
part  of  Montana,  Wyoming  and  Dakota,  extended  the  domain  of-; 
the  United  States,  from  the  western  boundary  of  the  then  recent 
"Louisiana  Purchase"  to  the  Pacific  ocean,  thereby  compassing  the 
continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  seas,  and, 

Whereas,  the  possession  of  the  "Oregon  Territory"  rendered  the 
acquisition  of  other  contiguous  territory  possible  and  inevitable,  and, 

Whereas,  the  world's  commerce,  industries,  finance  and  policies 
have  been  revived  and  improved,  and  our  own  government  mightily 
strengthened  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  matchless  destiny  through 
the  great  volume  of  valuable  metals,  digged  from  the  mines  and  the 
fields  of  those  vast  domains,  and, 

Whereas,  the  industry  of  mines  in  the  United  States  is  as  po- 
tential for  good  as  ever  heretofore;  and, 

Whereas,  on  being  informed  of  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  people 
of  the  Pacific  West  to  appropriately  mark  and  celebrate  the  centennial 
anniversary  of  the  unequaled  achievement  of  Captains  Lewis  and 
Clark  in  leading  the  willing  feet  of  Columbia  to  the  verge  of  the 
sunset  sea  this  Congress  at  its  last  annual  session,  by  appropriate 
resolution,  unanimously  adopted,  approved  such  patroitic  endeavor  and 
pledged  co-operation  and  support  of  the  organization  and  its  mem- 
bers; and, 

Whereas,  since  said  approval  and  endorsement  by  this  Congress, 
strong  organizations  have  been  perfected,  and  moneys  appropriated 
and  subscribed,  by  the  legislature  of  the  state  of  Oregon  and  by 
voluntary  subscription  by  her  citizens,  for  the  purpose  of  honoring 
said  centennial  anniversary  in  1905,  by  a  great  exposition  to  be  held 
in  Portland,  near  the  point  where  the  valiant  captains  reached  the 
Pacific;  and, 

Whereas,  several  of  the  legislatures  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  and 
Pacific  states  have  recently  endorsed  said  proposed  exposition  and 
contributed  moneys  for  the  purpose  of  participating  therein. 

Now,  Therefore,  Be  It  Resolved,  That  this  Congress  In  sixth  annual 
convention  assembled,  renews  its  approval  of  the  purpose  and  en- 
deavor to  celebrate  the  epoch  in  American  history,  popularly  known 
as  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  across  the  continent  and  com- 
pleted in  1805. 

Resolved,  That  this  Congress  as  a  body  and  its  members  as  indi- 
viduals pledge  support  and  participation  in  such  exposition. 

Resolved,  That  this  Congress  is  of  opinion  ffiat  all  the  mining 
states,  particularly  those  in  all  the  region  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
to  the  Pacific  sea  and  from  Canada  to  Mexico,  should  seize  hold  of 
this  first  opportunity  to  make  a  full  exposition  of  the  mining  industry 
and  its  products,  and  every  effort  made  to  instruct  the  people  in  the 
importance,  extent,  progress  and  present  status  of  this  great  in- 
dustry and  its  relations  to  the  progress  of  the  world. 

The  following  resolution  was  recommended  by  the  resolution  com- 
mittee and  adopted  by  the  Congress: 

Resolved,  That  the  American  Mining  Congress  is  against  fake  min- 
ing companies  and  the  exploitation  of  mining  stock  based  solely  upon 
options  for  the  purchase  or  levies  of  mining  property,  and  that  w,e 
call  upon  the  legislators  of  the  several  states  and  territories  of  the 


132  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

United  States  to  pass  such  legislation  as  may  be  effectual  to  remedy 
tbe  evil  here  mentioned,  thus  protecting  alike  investors  and  legitimate 
mining  enterprises. 

The  following  resolution  was  recommended  by  the  resolution 
committee  and  adopted  by  the  Congress: 

4  Resolved,  That  we  view  with  approbation  the  purchase  of  silver 
by  the  government  in  the  open  market  and  their  co-operation  with  the 
committee  appointed  by  the  Mexican  government  to  secure  a  staple 
value  and  world  wide  market  for  silver  by  the  co-operation  of  all  the 
staple  governments  of  the  world. 

MR.  MARTINI,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  One  of  the  subjects  we 
Tiave  had  under  consideration  is  a  document  entitled  "A  Solution  of 
Our  Interests  in  Money"  and  the  sub  committee  of  the  general  com- 
mittee on  resolutions  went  through  this  document  with  care  and 
made  report  to  the  committee  in  session,  the  result  of  which  is  that 
the  committee  report  to  the  Congress  presenting  this  resolution  back 
with  the  statement  that  in  the  view  of  the  members  of  the  committee 
it  does  not  come  within  the  purposes  and  intent  of  this  organization 
as  defined  by  its  by-laws. 

The  following  is  the  resolution: 

A    SOLUTION    OF    OUR    INTERESTS    IN    MONEY. 
CONFIDENTIAL. 

Chas.  Albert  Long,  Pomeroy,  Washington. 

AN  ACT. 
Entitled  an  Act:  — 

To  revise  the  present  monetary  measure  and  system  of  the  United 
States  of  America  and  Territories  to  accord  and  comply  with  the 
fundamental  principles  of  money  itself  and  provide:  — 

First — For  a  money  and  a  monetary  system  of  a  definite  standard. 

Second — To  provide  for  a  subsidiary  coin  and  currency  of  identical 
and  of  inseparable  representative  value  of  the  primary  without  liability 
or  less  to  the  government. 

Third — To  provide  for  the  free  and  unlimited  use  of  all  money 
metals  and  thereby  permit  our  people  the  right  and  privilege  of  pro- 
viding themselves  with  the  greatest  possible  volume  of  money. 

Fourth — To  place  our  money  metals  in  the  care  and  keeping  of 
the  government  and  provide  for  their  most  economic  and  for  their 
most  efficient  public  use. 

Fifth — To  provide  for  the  liquidation  of  our  interest-bearing  bonds 
and  to  forever  place  the  government  above  having  again  to  borrow. 

Sixth — To  relieve  the  government  from  the  present  burden  and 
expense  of  circulation. 

Seventh — To  dispense  with  endless  redemption. 

Eighth — To  relieve  the  government  from  all  unnecessary  coinage, 
and  especially  from  the  useless  and  senseless  coinage  of  silver  dollars 
•\\hich  will  not  now  Circulate,  and  never  will. 

Ninth — To  provide  a  national  banking  system  which  will  insure 
depositors  against  loss  in  the  event  of  failure  or  of  suspension  without 
immediate  liquidation. 

Tenth — To  provide  our  national  banks  with  government  protection 
from  depositor's  panic. 

Eleventh— To  provide  for  an  elastic  emergency  currency. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS  133 

Twelfth — To  provide  for  a  separate  coloring  for  each  kind  of 
currency  and  for  a  separate  design  for  each  denomination  of  every 
kind,  and  for  other  purposes,  and  especially  to  invite  the  whole  world 
to  unite  in  the  adoption  of  a  universal  standard  of  money,  and  th'e 
provision  of  a  coin  currency  of  identical  parfty  tor.  every  nation. 

EXAMPLE. 

ARTICLE  FIRST. 

STANDARD  OP  VALUE. 

Section  1st.  Resolved  and  be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  Assembled  in 
Session  of  the  Fifty-eighth  Congress:  — 

That  on  and  after  the  Fourth  day  of  July,  A.  D.,  1904,  the  legal 
standard  measure  of  all  values  within  these  United  States  and  Ter- 
ritories shall  be  and  consist  of  gold  coin  of  the  United  States  of 
America. 

Section  2nd.  That  on  and  after  the  said  Fourth  day  of  July,  A. 
D.,  1904,  the  legal  unit  measure  of  all  value  within  these  United 
States  and  Territories  shall  be  and  consist  of  the  gold  dollar  of  the 
United  States  of  America. 

Section  3rd.  That  the  gold  dollar  of  the  United  States  of  America 
shall  be  and  consist  of  23  22-100  grains!  troy  weight  of  pure  gold  and 
shall  be  coined  in  denomination  of  $100,  $200,  $500,  and  $1000. 

Section  4th.  That  gold  coin  of  the  United  States  of  America  shall 
be  and  consist  of  pure  gold  —  lOOOths  and  of  alloy  —  lOOOths,  com- 
posed as  follows,  to  wit: — 

ARTICLE  SECOND. 
COINAGE. 

Section  1st.  That  if  any  person  or  persons,  corporation  or  asso- 
ciation, shall  deliver  and  deposit  to  the  credit  of  the  United  States  of 
America  at  our  treasury,  or  any  sub-treasury,  or  any  mint,  or  at  any 
national  bank  of  these  United  States  or  Territories,  pure  gold  of  the 
weight  and  measure  of  2322  grains  troy  weight,  or  any  multiple  there- 
of, or  shall  so  deliver  and  deposit  gold  coin  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  of  legal  weight,  in  amounts  of  one  hundred  dollars  or 
any  multiple  thereof,  'or  shall  so  deliver  and  deposit  other  coin  con- 
taining pure  gold  of  the  weight  and  measure  of  2322  grains  troy  weight, 
or  any  multiple  thereof,  or  shall  so  deliver  and  deposit  United  States 
notes  of  present  issue,  in  amounts  of  one  hundred  dollars,  or  any  mul- 
tiple thereof,  such  depositors  shall  be  entitled  to  and  may  receive 
therefor  at  our  nearest  mint  gold  coin  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  denominations  of  $100,  $200,  $500,  or  $1000,  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided— a  legal  tender  for  all  dues  and  demands,  public  and  private 
(and  the  legal  standard  measure  of  all  values  within  these  United 
States  and  Territories),  or  in  lieu  thereof  such  depositors  shall  be 
entitled  to  and  may  receive  therefor  at  our  nearest  mint  gold  cer- 
tificates of  the  United  States  of  America  in  denominations  ot  $100, 
$200,  $500,  or  $1000,  a  legal  tender  for  all  dues  and  demands,  public 
and  private,  receivable  for  all  dues  of  government  and  redeemable  upon 
presentation  and  demand  at  the  treasury,  or  at  any  sub-treasury,  or 
at  any  mint  of  the  United  States  in  the  gold  coin  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  or  in  pure  gold,  or  in  pure  platinum,  or  in  pure  silver,  of 
the  approximate  value  of  the  gold  coin  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, at  the  option  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury. 

Section  2nd.  That  if  any  person  or  persons,  corporation  or  asso- 
ciation, shall  deliver  and  deposit  to  the  credit  of  the  United  States 
of  America  at  the  treasury,  or  any  sub-treasury,  or  at  any  mint,  or  at 


134  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

any  national  bank,  of  these  United  States  or  Territories,  pure  plati- 
num of  the  approximate  value  of  fifty  gold  dollars  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  or  any  multiple  thereof,  such  depositors  shall  be 
entitled  to  and  may  receive  therefor  at  our  nearest  mint,  platinum 
coin  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  denomination  of  fifty  dollars, 
of  any  weight  and  composition  of  alloy  congress  may  hereinafter 
adopt,  a  legal  tender  for  all  dues  and  demands,  public  and  private,  to 
any  amount  not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars,  or  in  lieu  thereof, 
such  depositors  shall  be  entitled  to  and  may  receive  there- 
for, at  our  nearest  mint  platinum  certificates  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  denominations  of  fifty  dollars,  a  legal  tender  for 
all  dues  and  demands,  public  and  private,  receivable  for  all  dues  of 
government,  and  redeemable  upon  presentation  and  demand  in  amounts 
of  one  hundred  dollars,  or  any  multiple  thereof,  at  our  treasury,  or  at 
any  sub-treasury,  or  at  any  mint  of  the  United  States,  in  gold  coin 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  or  in  pure  gold,  or  in  pure  platinum, 
or  in  pure  silver,  of  the  approximate  value  of  gold  coin  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  at  the  option  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury. 

Section  3rd.  That  if  any  person  or  persons,  corporation  or  asso- 
ciation, shall  deliver  and  deposit  to  the  credit  of  the  United  States  of 
America  at  our  treasury,  or  at  any  sub-treasury,  OT  at  any  mint,  or  at 
any  national  bank  of  these  United  States  or  Terriones,  pure  silver 
of  the  approximate  value  of  one  gold  dollar  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  or  any  multiple  or  "fraction  thereof,  OT  shall  so  deliver  and 
deposit  United  States  silver  dollars  of  present  issue,  or  silver  certi- 
ficates, or  coin  certificates,  or  treasury  notes,  or  other  demand  obli- 
gations of  these  United  States,  in  any  amount,  or  shall  so  deliver  and 
deposit  interest-bearing  bonds  of  the  United  States  of  America  at 
their  market  value,  or  shall  so  deliver  and  deposit  national  bank  cur- 
rency of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  any  amount,  or  shall  so 
deliver  and  deposit  pure  gold,  or  gold  coin,  or  gold  certificates,  or  pure 
platinum,  or  platinum  coin,  or  platinum  certificates  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  any  amount,  such  depositors  shall  be  entitled 
to  and  may  receive  therefor  at  our  nearest  mint,  silver  coin  of  the 
United  States  of  American,  in  denominations  of  half-dollars,  quarter- 
dollars,  dimes  or  half-dimes,  each  and  all  of  the  weight  and  fineness 
congress  may  herein  or  hereafter  adopt,  a  legal  tender  for  all  dues  and 
demands,  public  and  private,  to  any  amount  not  exceeding  twenty-five 
dollars  for  half-dollars,  or  ten  dollars  for  quarter-dollars,  or  of  one 
dollar  for  dimes,  or  of  one  half-dollar  for  half-dimes,  or  in  lieu  thereof, 
such  depositors  shall  be  entitled  to  and  may  receive  therefor  at  our 
nearest  mint,  minor  coins  of  the'  Uaited  States  tff  America,  in  denomi- 
nations of  three  cents  or  of  one  cent,  of  any  metal,  size  and  design 
congress  may  adopt,  a  legal  tender  for  any  amount  not  exceeding  one 
dime  for  both,  or  in  lieu  thereof  such  depositors  shall  be  entitled  to 
and  may  receive  therefor  at  our  nearest  mint,  silver  certificates  of 
the  United  States  of  America  in  denominations  of  $1,  $2,  $5,  $10  or 
$20,  a  legal  tender  for  all  dues  and  demands,  public  and  private,  re- 
ceivable for  all  dues  of  government  and  redeemable  upon  presenta- 
tion and  demand  in  amounts  of  $100,  or  any  multiple  thereof,  at  our 
treasury,  or  any  sub-treasury,  or  at  any  mint  of  the  United  States,  in 
gold  coin  of  the  United  States  of  America,  or  in  pure  gold,  or  in  pure 
platinum,  or  in  pure  silver  of  the  approximate  value  of  gold  coin  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  at  the  option  of  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury. 

ARTICLE  THIRD. 
REDEMPTION  OF  MONEY  METALS. 

Section  1st.  That  all  money  metals  received  by  the  United  States 
of  America  at  any  bank,  as  provided  In  this  act,  shall  always  be  subject 
to  the  actual  expense  of  transmission,  including  insurance  of  delivery 
at  our  nearest  mint. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  135 

Section  2nd.  That  all  gold  bullion  or  gold  coin  received  as  bul- 
lion by  the  United  States  of  America,  under  the  provisions  of  this  act 
shall  always  be  subject  to  a  charge  of  the  actual  cost  to  government 
of  the  alloy  necessary  to  effect  its  coinage. 

ARTICLE  FOURTH. 
APPROXIMATING  THE  VALUE  OP  MONEY  METALS. 

Section  1st.  That  the  value  of  all  subsidiary  money  metals  re- 
ceived by  the  United  States  of  America,  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  and  the  value  of  all  money  metals  disbursed  by  the  United  States 
of  America,  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  always  be  reckoned 
at  the  highest  price  quoted  in  open  market,  or,  if  special  bid  be  asked, 
and  which  shall  obtain  if  more  than  $10,000  be  offered,  shall  always 
be  reckoned  at  the  highest  price  bid  in  gold  coin  of  the  United  States 
of  America  for  the  amount  offered,  at  the  nearest  exchange  to  the 
place  of  offering. 

Section  2nd.  That  it  shall  always  be  the  option,  privilege  and  duty 
of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  either  accept  or  to  reject,  in  the 
interest  of  government,  any  and  all  bids  for  money  metals  deposited 
to  the  credit  of,  or  being  offered  on  disbursement  by  the  United 
States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  FIVE. 
ALT.OY  OF  COIN  AND  DESIGN  OF  CURRENCY. 

Section  1st.  That  the  secretary  of  treasury  is  hereby  authorized 
and  requested  to  appoint  a  committee  of  one  or  more  (as  in  his 
discretion  may  seem  necessary)  to  determine,  if  possible,  the  most 
practical  design  of  coin  and  composition  of  alloy  necessary  to  render 
all  coin  issued  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  the  least  susceptible 
to  wear  and  waste  by  abrasion,  and  the  secretary  of  treasury  is  hereby 
authorized  and  requested  to  pay  all  legitimate  expense  incurred  by 
such  commissions  out  of  any  credits  of  the  public  treasury  and  charge 
the  same  to  the  account  of  design  and  coinage. 

Section  2nd.  That  each  kind  of  currency  hereafter  issued  by  the 
United  States  of  America  (as  hereinbefore  provided)  shall  be  of  a  dis- 
tinct and  separate  coloring,  and  that  each  denomination  of  every  kind 
shall  be  of  a  distinct  and  serarate  design,  so  that  each  kind  and  each 
denomination  of  every  kind  may  be  readily  discernible  from  both 
design  and  coloring,  and  the  secretary  of  treasury  is  hereby  author- 
ized and  requested  to  appoint  a  commission  of  one  or  more,  as  in  his 
discretion  may  seem  necessary,  to  determine,  if  possible;  the  most 
desirable  size,  design  and  coloring  of  each  respective  kind  of  cur- 
rency, and  for  their  several  denominations,  as  hereinbefore  provided, 
and  to  pay  the  expense  incurred  by  such  commission  out  of  the  public 
treasury  and  charge  the  same  to  the  account  of  designing  of  currency. 

ARTICLE  SIXTH. 
RETIREMENT  OF  PRESENT  ISSUE. 

Section  1st.  That  it  shall  be  unlawful  and  a  misdemeanor  for 
any  person  or  persons,  corporation  or  association,  to  pay  or  to  offer 
in  payment,  or  to  circulate  or  to  offer  in  circulation,  on  or  after  the 
First  day  of  January,  A".  D..  1905,  any  other  coin  or  currency  than  as 
hereinbefore  provided  for  (except  national  bank  currency)  and  that 
every  person  or  persons,  corporation  or  association,  having  United 
States  of  America's  coin  of  present  issue  (except  national  bank  cur- 
rency) and  wishing  to  obtain  money  or  lawful  subsidiary  coin  or  cur- 
rency therefor  shall,  before  the  said  First  day  of  January,  A.  D.,  1905. 
present  the  same  at  some  United  States  depository  for  exchange  in 


136  OFFICIAL,    PROCEEDINGS 

coin  or  currency  of  the  United  States  of  America,  as  hereinbefore  pro- 
vided  for,  and  any  violation  of  this  act  shall  render  the  offender  liable 
to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  10  per1  cent  of  the  amount  so  offered. 

Section  2nd.  That  the  secretary  of  treasury  shall  provide  each 
national  bank,  express  paid,  with  whatever  kind  of  coin  and  currency 
hereinbefore  provided  for,  which  the  public  may  require  in  exchange 
for  their  present  issue,  and  charge  the  expense  of  such  expressage  to 
the  account  of  retirement  of  present  issue. 

ARTICLE  SEVENTH. 
DIVISION  OF  TREASURY'S  CREDITS. 

Section  1st.  That  all  accounts  in  relation  to  the  reception  and  dis- 
bursements of  money  metals,  and  all  accounts  in  relation  to  the  issuo 
and  redemption  of  currency,  shall  be  kept  separate  and  apart  from  all 
other  accounts  and  transactions  of  the  treasury,  and  in  a  department 
to  be  known  as  the  Department  of  Issue  and  Redemption,  and  to 
which  all  gold  and  gold  coin,  and  all  platinum  and  all  silver  bullion, 
and  silver  dollars  of  present  issue,  now  in  possession  of  the  govern- 
ment, or  which  may  hereafter  be  received  or  acquired  in  payment  of 
any  dues,  or  otherwise,  shall  be  accredited  in  exchange  for  currency, 
and  all  of  said  coin  shall  be  reduced  to  bullion  and  recoined  as  fast, 
if  possible,  as  the  demands  of  the  public  may  require,  in  gold,  plati- 
num, or  silver  coins  of  the  kind  and  denomination  hereinbefore  pro- 
vided for,  or  currency  may  be  issued  in  lieu  thereof  to  suit  the  demands 
of  the  public,  but  that  no  issue  of  permanent  or  regular  currency,  ex- 
cept as  hereinbefore  provided  for,  shall  ever  be  without  a  direct  and 
specific  act  of  congress  authorizing  such  excessive  issue. 

ARTICLE  EIGHTH. 
NATIONAL  BANK  GUARANTEE  FUND. 

Section  1st.  That  all  national  banks  now  existing,  or  which  may 
hereafter  be  authorized  by  the  United  States  of  America,  shall  in  ad- 
dition to  all  other  acts  of  regulation  and  supervision  be  subject  to  an 
annual  tax  of  1-10  of  1  per  cent  of  their  -respective  loans  and  dis- 
counts which  shall  be  paid  to  the  secretary  of  treasury  in  quarterly 
installments,  beginning  with  the  Fourth  day  of  July,  A.  D.,  1904,  and 
being  reckoned  upon  the  monthly  average  of  their  respective  loans 
and  discounts  for  the  three  preceding  months  and  becoming  perpet- 
ually due  and  payable  upon  the  fourth  day  of  every  third  month  there- 
after, the  proceeds  of  which  shall  be  accredited  to  a  fund  to  be  known 
as  the  National  Bank  Guarantee  Fund,  the  intent  and  purpose  of  which 
shall  be  to  guarantee  the  prompt  and  certain  payment  of  all  national 
bank  deposits,  and  which  shall  be  kept  distinct  and  separate  from  all 
other  money  and  accounts  in  the  care  and  keeping  of  the  secretary  of 
treasury,  and  used  only  to  pay  depositors  of  national  banks  in  the 
event  of  their  failure  or  of  suspension  without  immediate  liquidation 
and  adjustment  of  all  deposits,  and  in  the  event  of  such  failure  the 
secretary  of  treasury  shall,  as  soon  as  possible,  ascertain  such  bank 
depositors  due,  and  issue  to  each  a  certificate  of  United  States  de- 
posit, payable  to  order  upon  endorsement,  and  such  claims  against 
any  bank  shall  be  a  first  lien  upon  all  assets  of  whatever  nature  and 
kind,  due  or  belonging  to  any  such  bank,  and  upon  all  of  the  lawful 
obligations  of  the  respective  stockholders,  and  in  the  event  of  the 
National  Bank  Guarantee  Fund  ever  becoming  insufficient  of  meeting 
the  demands  of  failing  bank  depositors,  then  each  and  every  national 
bank  shall  be  subject  to  an  emergency  assessment  equal  to  their  pro- 
portion of  the  amount  then  due  such  depositors. 

Section  2nd.  That  all  national  banks  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica may  continue,  and  all  other  banks  of  these  United  States  and  Tei1- 
ritories  may  hereafter  organize  and  continue  as  national  banks  with- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  137 

out  a  deposit  of  government  bonds  by  simply  subscribing  to  the  Na- 
tional Bank  Guarantee  Fund,  as  hereinafter  provided  for,  and  by 
complying  with  ail  other  lawful  requirements  of  national  banks  of  the 
United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  NINTH. 
EMERGENCY  CURRENCY. 

Section  1st.  That  any  national  bank  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  good  standing  and  holding  a  lawful  reserve,  may,  upon 
application  to  and  recommendation  by  the  comptroller  of  currency  be 
permitted  at  any  time  to  issue  short  time  notes  of  not  longer  than 
six  months'  circulation,  and  upon  the  following  terms  and  conditions:  — 

1st.     That  such  bank   shall   pay  in   advance  to  the  treasury  of 

the  United  States  one-fourth  of  the  lawful  or  regular  bank   rate  of 

interest  for  the  entire  time  of  such  issue's  limit,  and  said  limit  of 
issue's  time  shall  always  be  designated  at  the  time  of  application. 

;2nd.  That  all  such  bank  issues  shall  be  made  for  a  specific  pur- 
pose, such  as  the  harvesting  of  crops  of  grain,  picking  and  preparing 
for  market  crops  of  fruit,  or  other  absolutely  necessary  transactions 
requiring  an  abnormal  local  circulation  for  a  short  season  of  the 
year,  and  which  purpose  shall  always  be  specified  with  application  for 
an  issue, 

3rd.  That  every  bank  making  application  for  an  issue  of  currency 
shall  agree  and  sign  an  agreement  to  never  loan  more  than  .50  per 
cent  of  the  market  value  of  securities  taken  and  to  insure  to  keep 
insured  to  double  of  the  amount  loaned  all  of  such  securities  taken, 
and  to  keep  subject  to  the  order  of  the  comptroller  of  currency  a  dis- 
tinct and  separate  account  of  all  loans  for  which  bank  currency  ;s 
used,  and  to  keep  all  notes  and  securities  taken  for  such  loans  separate 
and  distinct  from  all  ordinary  transactions  and  obligations  of  the 
bank,  and  to  hold  all  of  such  notes  and  their  securities,  together  with 
the  insurance,  or  the  funds  received  in  tEeir  payment  as  a  redemption 
fund  and  a  guarantee  that  each  and  every  note  of  the  bank  currency 
shall  be  promptly  redeemed,  and  the  comptroller  of  currency  is  hereby 
authorized  to  hold  each  and  all  of  such  obligations  and  proceeds  or 
bank  currency  loans  until  such  currency  is  redeemed,  or  until  United 
States  coin  or  currency  is  deposited  with  the  secretary  of  treasury 
for  their  redemption,  and  the  government  hereby  guarantees  their 
certain  and  prompt  redemption,  or  exchange  for  United  States 
currency. 

4th.  That  a  violation  of  any  obligation  to  the  government  herein 
required  of  banks  of  issue  by  any  officer,  or  employe  of  such  bank, 
shall  render  each  and  all  of  such  offenders  guilty  of  felony  and  pur- 
ishable  by  imprisonment  for  a  term  of  not  less  than  fifty  years  at 
hard  labor,  and  confiscation  of  each  and  all  of  such  offender's  property 
towards,  or  to  the  amount  of  such  defalcation. 

5th.  The  national  bank  currency  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
which  may  be  issued  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  read: 

"The  National  Bank  of  — ,  county  or  — ,  state  of  — .  $ — .  Limit 
of  circulation,  — .  Legal  tender  for  all  dues  and  demands,  public  and 
private,  receivable  for  all  dues  of  government,  and  exchangeable  at 
the  treasury  of  ttie  United  States  for  regular  coin  or  currency  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  af  the  option  of  the  holder." 

6th.  National  banY  emergency  currency,  as  provided  for  in  this 
act,  shall  be  issued  by  secretary  of  treasury  at  the  expense  of  the  ap- 
plicant, and  in  denominations  of  from  one  to  twenty  dollars,  but  shall 
be  of  a  distinct  and  separate  design  and  coloring. 


138  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

ARTICLE  TENTH. 
GOVERNMENT    EMERGENCY    CURRENCY. 

Sebtion  1st.  That  our  president  is  hereby  authorized  to  order  an 
issue  of  emergency  currency  of  the  United  States  of  America  when- 
ever the  exigencies  shall  have  convinced  himself,  the  comptroller  of 
currency  and  a  majority  of  the  cabinet,  that  an  issue  of  emergency 
currency  may  be  necessary  to  save  borrowing  in  providing  for  the 
public  defense  or  in  the  promotion  of  the  public  welfare,  but  such 
issue  shall  always  be  limited  to  the  actual  necessities  of  the  govern- 
ment in  the  emergency,  and  pending  the  convening  and  action  of  con- 
gress providing  for  a  special  revenue  and  collection  of  the  permanent 
or  regular  currency  for  the  retirement  of  the  emergency  currency, 
but  no  emergency  currency  shall  ever  be  issued  except  for  some  ne- 
cessity in  the  interest  of  all  the  people  of  our  United  States,  such  as 
the  purchase  of  the  right  of  way  and  construction  of  an  isthmian 
canal,  or  like  investment,  involving  the  general  welfare  of  all  the 
people,  or  wherein  the  protection  of  the  public  defense  is  at  stake. 
The  intent  and  purpose  of  this  act  being  to  enable  the  legitimate  ex- 
ercise of  government  credit  in  the  interest  of  the  general  welfare  with- 
out having  to  borrow. 

Section  2nd.  That  no  issue  of  national  emergency  currency  shall 
ever  be  made  for  a  longer  time  than  five  years  from  the  date  of  such 
order,  unless  a  specific  act  of  congress  authorizes  an  extension  of  said 
time  and  such  issue  shall  be  retired  at  maturity,  and  at  the  option 
of  the  secretary  of  treasury  at  any  time  before  maturity  whenever 
rnd  as  fast  as  current  receipts  or  a  special  revenue,  or  both,  shall  have 
collected  of  the  regular  currency  an  amount  in  excess  of  the  gov- 
ernment's current  requirements. 

Section  3rd.  Emergency  currency  of  the  United  Slates  of  America 
shall  read:  — 

United  States  of  America  emergency  currency.  Limit  of  circula- 
tion, —  years,  a  legal  tender  for  all  dues  and  demands,  public  and 
private,  and  receivable  for  all  dues  of  government,  exchangeable  at  the 
treasury  for  regular  coin  or  currency  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
at  the  option  of  the  holder. 

Section  4th.  In  the  event  of  an  issue  of  an  emergency  currency 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  president  to  have  the  secretary  of  treasury 
to  furnish  congress  witE  an  estimate  of  the  amount  of  revenue  neces- 
sary to  retire  all  of  the  emergency  issue  within  the  limit  of  its  auth- 
orized circulation,  and  whenever  a  special  revenue  provided  for  the 
retirement  of  an  emergency  currency  shall  have  collected  of  the  regu- 
lar currency  an  amount  equal  to  the  emergency  currency  to  be  retired, 
then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  our  president  to  suspend  a  further  c«l- 
lection  of  such  special  revenue. 

Section  5th.  The  national  emergency  currency  provided  for  in 
this  act  shall  be  of  a  specific  coloring  of  its  own,  but  may  be  in  any 
denominations  to  suit  the  purposes  of  the  government. 

Section  6th.  In  the  event  of  an  emergency  currency  issue  the 
president  may  have  silver  or  minor  coins  issued  to  any  amount  neces- 
sary to  accommodate  the  needs  of  government,  and  all  such  coins  shall 
be  a  legal  tender  as  hereinbefore  provided  for  such  coins. 

ARTICLE  ELEVENTH. 
UNIVERSAL  COIN  AND  CURRENCY. 

Section  1st.  Resolved  that  our  president  is  hereby  authorized  and 
requested  to  appoint  a  commission  of  three  or  more,  as  in  his  disc-re- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  139 

tion  may  seem  advisable,  to  negotiate  with  every  nation  for  the 
adoption  of  a  universal  standard  of  money  and  the  provision  of  a  coin 
and  currency  of  identical  parity  for  the  world,  and  the  sum  of  $100.000 
is  hereby  appropriated  to  defray  the  expenses  of  such  commission, 
and  the  secretary  of  treasury  is  hereby  authorized  to  pay  the  same 
out  of  and  credit  of  the  government  not  otherwise  appropriated,  and 
charge  the  same'to  the  account  of  international  currency. 

ARTICLE  TWELFTH. 

Section  1st.  That  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  existing  contrary  to, 
or  conflicting  herewith,  are  hereby  annulled  and  repealed. 

EXPLANATION. 

In  explanation  of  the  principles  of  fact  involved,  and  upon  which 
the  foregoing  measure  is  written,  and  in  its  comparison  with  our  pre- 
sent monetary  act,  or  with  that  which  the  Hon.  C.  N.  Fowler,  chair- 
man of  the  house  committee  of  banking  and  currency,  or  any  one  else 
has  ever  introduced  or  recommended,  I  submit: — 

1st.  That  my  .measure  is  written  not  only  in  recognition  of  the 
necessity  of  a  definite  standard  of  money  for  the  sake  of  knowing 
positively  what  valuable,  and  what  quantity  of  that  valuable,  all  kinds 
of  our  coin  and  currency  shall  represent;  but  this: 

2nd.  It  is  written  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  highest  or 
most  valuable  standard  of  money  possible  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
even  permit  of  providing  for  the  present  possible  volume  of  money, 
and  because  the  principles  of  business  is  that  all  subsidiaries  or  in- 
feriors are  and  of  right  ought  to  be  subject  to  their  superiors,  and  con- 
sequently may  forever  properly  act  subject  to  their  superiors;  but 
that  no  superior  can  ever  properly  act  subject  to  an  inferior,  so  if  we 
would  properly  employ  two  or  more  factors  in  our  volume  of  money, 
we  must  honor  the  most  valuable  one  with  being  money,  and  then  em- 
ploy the  less  valuable  ones  with  being  assistants;  for  if  we  honor  the 
least  capable  with  the  authority  of  dictating  to  the  most  capable,  we 
cannot  enjoy  the  ability  of  the  more  capable,  so  that  as  I  see  it,  the 
gold  standard  of  money  instead  of  being  a  financial  cross  of  unnec- 
essary contraction 'upon  which  to  crucify  the  people,  it  is  a  financial 
couch  of  the  greatest  capacity  and  comfort  yet  discovered,  and  in- 
stead of  being  a  crown  of  financial  thorns  with  which  to  distress  ^  e 
brow  of  the  poor,  it  is  a  financial  bower  of  sweetest  roses,  permitting 
tl  rift  and  intelligence  to  decorate  home  not  only  with  the  acquirements 
and  accomplishments  of  the  locality  or  of  a  state,  or  even  a  nation, 
but  of  the  world,  and  with  the  greatest  degree  of  convenience  possible 
in  anything  known,  and  enjoying  an  existence  above  condition. 

3rd.  My  measure  is  written  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the 
highest  or  most  valuable  standard  of  money  possible  is  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  even  provide  for  a  money  of  the  greatest  possible  conven- 
ience, for  the  greater  the  value  the  greater  the  convenience  in  a  money 
of  great  quantity,  three  principles  and  conditions  in  money  fundamental 
and  absolutely  indespensible  in  providing  for  a  satisfaction  of  business 
intelligence  in  a  montetary  measure  and  system  for  any  people,  for 
it  is  impossible  that  intelligence  could  ever  be  satisfied  with  anything 
as  a  measure  for  either  quantity,  dimension  or  weight,  without  having 
the  measure  defined  so  as  to  know  positively  what  it  was  to  represent, 
and  to  also  know  that  everyone  alike  must  comply  with  the  same  meas- 
ure, and  so  with  money,  for  no  one  would  loan  dollars  of  the  value 
of  23  and  22-100  grains  of  pure  gold  and  be  satisfied  with  a  law  which 
would  permit  his  debtor  to  pay  him  back  in  another  kind  of  dollar 
not  worth  over  ten  grains  of  gold,  and  which  the  16  to  1  would  have 
compelled  every  creditor  to  accept. 


140  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

Neither  can  intelligent  people  be  satisfied  with  an  amount  or 
volume  of  anything  as  good  and  useful  as  money  and  know  that  they 
might  just  as  well  have  more  and  the  advantage  of  a  greater  volume 
of  it  to  enjoy,  and  especially  so  if  they  know  that  the  only  cost  of 
having  more  would  be  to  simply  write  the  permission  and  conditions. 

Neither  can  intelligence  be  satisfied  with  the  use  of  anything  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  a  business  convenience  and  also  know  that  the 
only  cost  of  providing  for  the  thing  in  a  form  of  greater  convenience 
would  be  to  write  the  conditions  and  dimensions. 

But  not  only  is  my  measure  written  in  recognition  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  money  itself,  but  it  is  also  written^'  in  recognition 
of  five  principles  of  fact  involved  in  the  use  of  one  or  more  factors 
as  an  assistant  money. 

The  first  is  that  anything  entitled  to  use  as  a  money  at  all  is  of 
right  entitled  to  free  and  unlimited  use;  for  intelligence  not  only 
needs  their  assistance,  but  must  have  their  greatest  possible  assist- 
ance if  we  would  enjoy  what  the  Author  of  Nature  has  provided  for 
our  comfort,  convenience  and  intelligence. 

2nd.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  to  provide  for  the  free  and  un- 
limited use  of  any  subsidiary  and  have  its  own  coin  and  currency  al- 
ways a  representative  of  the  identical  value  of  the  primary,  and  have 
it  so  without  involving  a  liability  or  even  the  possibility  of  loss  to 
the  government,  it  must  be  made  responsible  for  its  own  transactions 
and  responsible  for  the  redemption  of  its  own  currency,  that  is  to 
say,  each  subsidiary  must  be  made  receivable  at  its  primary  value  and 
its  coin  and  currency  must  .be  made  redeemable  in  the  primary  value 
of  its  own  self,  and  the  same  principles  applied  which  will  provide 
for  the  free  and  unlimited  use  of  one  subsidiary  without  liability  or 
even  possibility  of  loss  to  the  government  will,  of  course,  provide  for 
the  free  and  unlimited  use  of  any  number  of  subsidiaries  without 
liability  or  even  a  possibility  of  loss  to  the  government,  and  conse- 
quently, then,  if  this  can  be  done,  any  nation,  however  weak  or  poor, 
can  adopt  the  highest  possible  standard  of  money  and  enjoy  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  free  and  unlimited  use  of  everything  entitled  to  use 
as  money  at  all,  and  can  do  so  just  as  easily  and  just  as  safely  as  the 
greatest  nation  of  the  world  could. 

3rd.  It  recognizes  the  fact  tEat  each  factor  entitled  to  use  as  an 
assistant  money  at  all  is  of  right  entitled  to  a  distinct  and  separate 
share  and  interest  in  transacting  the  nation's  business,  for  they  are 
each  individuals  to  be  honored  as  an  agent  of  intelligence  with  the 
performance  of  a  specific  job  in  the  service  of  mankind,  and  conse- 
quently the  value  and  usefulness  of  each  will  depend  upon  its  being 
permitted  of  doing  just  all  it  possibly  can  with  acceptable  convenience 
to  its  employer,  for  they  are  each  possessed  by  divine  authority  with 
qualifications,  recommendations  and  interests  each  of  tneir  own,  so 
to  permit  any  one  of  them  to  be  defrauded  and  deprived  of  any  part 
of  what  it  could  acceptably  do  for  use  would  be  not  only  to  lose  its 
service  and  consequently  unnecessarily  deprive  ourselves  of  what  il 
could  do  for  us,  but  also  to  wrong  and  depreciate  the  value  of  the  one 
defrauded. 

4th.  It  is  written  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  to  obtain  and 
enjoy  the  greatest  possible  service  and  profit  of  a  number  of  monetary 
credits,  the  least  capable  or  least  valuable  one  must  first  be  accorded 
and  protected  in  just  all  it  can  possibly  do  within  a  respectful  regard 
to  the  convenience  of  the  employer,  and  then  the  next  more  valuable 
one  must  have  just  all  it  can  do  within  a  respectful  regard  to  the 
convenience  of  its  employer  and  so  on  up  to  the  primary.  This  will- 
accord  to  and  protect  each  in  a  share  and  proportion  of  business 
which  will  forever  insure  each  one  an  opportunity  for  doing  their 
greatest  and"  most  valuable  service  to  man  and  will  consequently 
insure  to  their  producers  the  greatest  possible  demand  and  price  for 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  141 

and  profits  on  their  product,  so  if  we  honor  silver  with  the  entire  re- 
sponsibility of  our  domestic  circulation  we  should  afford  to  it  the 
greatest  possible  opportunity  in  the  service  of  mankind,  and  conse- 
quently restore  it  to  the  greatest  possible  value,  for  money  metals, 
like  mules,  to  be  valuable  must  have  profitable  employment. 

5th.  It  is  written  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  though  all  sub- 
sidiaries are  of  right  entitled  to  free  and  unlimited  use  and  coinage, 
no  subsidiary  is  of  right  entitled  to  a  legal  tender  authority  above  the 
first  demonstration  of  its  first  predecessor,  that  is  to  say,  if  silver  be 
of  less  value  than  platinum,  then  silver's  greatest  coin  should  not  be 
allowed  a  legal  tender  authority  above  the  first  denomination  of  plat- 
inum, and  if  platinum  be  of  less  value  than  gold,  then  platinum's 
greatest  coin  should  never  be  allowed  a  legal  tender  authority  above 
the  first  denomination  of  gold,  so  then,  if  we  should  ever  find  anything, 
or  any  number  of  things,  of  greater  value  than  gold,  and  entitled  to» 
use  as  a  money,  we  should  honor  the  most  valuable  one  with  being 
our  money  and  limit  the  legal  tender  authority  of  gold  to  the  first  de- 
nomination of  its  first  predecessor.  It  seems  this  ought  to  be  plain 
to  every  one,  for  the  principles  involved  are  the  same  as  the  prin- 
ciples involved  in  the  office  of  president,  1st  vice  president,  2nd  vice 
president,  and  so  on  to  any  number,  so  to  permit  any  assistant  the 
authority  of  disputing  the  dictation  of  even  its  first  predecessor  would 
be  to  destroy  the  office  of  the  predecessor. 

But  in  addition  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  money  itself  and 
in  addition  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  subsidiary  money,  my 
measure  is  written  in  recognition  of  the  following  principles  and  con- 
ditions involved  in  the  reception,  disbursement,  and  economic,  and 
efficient  use  of  all  money  metals: 

1st.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  relative  value  of  all  things  may 
fluctuate  because  of  the  fluctuation  in  the  relative  supply  of  either 
of  them  and  that  too,  even  though  the  demand  be  practically  fixed 
and  unchanged  toward  either  or  any  one  of  them. 

2nd.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  relative  value  or  usefulness 
of  any  number  of  things  may  fluctuate  because  of  fluctuations  in  the 
demand  for  either  or  any  one  of  them,  and  that  too,  even  though  the 
relative  supply  has  remained  unchanged. 

3rd.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  relative  value  of  all  things 
may  depend  upon  where  they  are,  that  is  to  say,  that  gold  and  silver 
may  not  be  of  the  same  relative  value  at  Butte,  Mont.,  that  they  are 
upon  the  same  day  at  New  York,  because  it  might  cost  proportionately 
more  to  get  one  delivered  from  the  .mines  than  it  would  for  the  other 
— for  instance,  it  now  costs  the  government  $7.75  expressage  on  a 
thousand  dollars  of  silver  from  the  mint  at  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  to  the 
bank  at  Pomeroy,  Wash.,  while  it  only  costs  the  bank  $1.50  per  thou- 
sand dollars  expressage  on  gold,  a  difference  of  $6.25  per  thousand! 
and  a  difference  of  $6,250  on  a  million  dollars. 

4th.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  amount  offered  may  effect 
the  relative  value  of  any  number  of  things,  for  no  one  will  ever  give 
as  much  relatively  for  more  than  they  need  of  anything  as  they 
would  for  just  what  they  need. 

5th.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  though  a  currency,  if  issued  by 
a  responsible  holder  of  the  money  it  represents,  may  be  just  as  val- 
uable in  any  domestic  transaction  as  the  money  itself,  nothing  but 
actual  money  or  its  assistant  can  possibly  serve  a  nation  as  a  monetary 
credit,  because  the  nation  is  the  source  of  authority  and  declares  what 
shall  be  money  and  what  shall  be  honored  as  assistant  money,  and  also 
must,  to  have  their  currency  as  good  as  money,  declare  that  every 
holder  "of  the  nation's  currency  shall  have  either  money  or  the  value 
of  money  in  it  as  assistant  money  at  any  lime  in  exchange  for  their 


142  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

currency,  if  they  wish,  so  while  no  person,  corporation  or  association, 
could  afford  to  undertake  to  be  responsible  for  the  care  and  keeping 
of  so  vast  a  quantity  of  property  without  being  paid  for  so  doing,  the 
nation  can  well  afford  to  take  the  responsibility  of  the  care  and  keeping 
of  all  the  people's  money  and  without  charge,  because  it  is  kept  for 
the  benefit  of  all  the  people,  and  the  best  interest  of  the  people  de- 
mands that  their  money  be  placed  to  tneir  public  credit  and  kept  in 
the  care  of  their  government. 

6th.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  if  the  people  of  any  nation  shall 
honor  their  money  with  protection  from  domestic  circulation  and  place 
all  they  have  to  their  public  credit,  and  subject  only  to  the  demands 
of  their  government,  that  then  their  government  will  constantly  and 
perpetually  have  all  the  money  that  they  all  have,  and  consequently 
then  their  government  will  not  have  to  run  out  and  borrow  of  Tom, 
Dick  and  Harry  at  every  emergency  in  excess  of  current  receipts  and 
subject  the  whole  nation  to  taxation  for  the  payment  of  interest  to 
individuals,  corporations  or  associations,  as  we  and  every  nation  o? 
the  world  have  ever  done. 

7th.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  in  the  case  of  our  own  govern- 
ment, if  we  had  at  the  time  of  our  present  measure's  enactment,  or 
if  we  should  now  provide  for  a  condition  which  would  induce  every 
one  of  us  to  place  our  money  to  the  credit  of  the  government,  an3 
which  can  be  done  without  cost  or  inconvenience  to  any  one,  that  then 
our  government  would  have  more  than  a  billion  dollars  in  gold,  and 
half  as  many  dollars'  worth  of  other  metals — money  enough  to  pay 
our  interest-bearing  bonds  of  $868,000,000,  and  hundreds  of  millions  of 
dollars  left,  instead  of  refunding  them  for  thirty  years,  as  we  did, 
and"  would  have  saved  to  our  public  credit  the  hundreds  of  millions 
in  interest  our  present  measure  now  compels  us  to  pay. 

8th.  My  bill  is  written  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  a  condition 
provided  in  a  monetary  measure  which  would  induce  every  one  having 
gold,  or  gold  coin,  to  place  it  to  the  credit  of  their  government  and 
take  a  currency,  because  the  currency  would  better  accommodate 
their  business  convenience,  would  also  induce  the  holder  of  govern- 
ment bonds,  if  he  wished  to  do  business  rather  than  draw  interest, 
to  deposit  his  bonds  to  the  credit  of  his  nation  and  take  a  currency 
instead  of  gold  coin,  though  his  bond  called  for  gold  coin,  simply  be- 
cause the  currency  would  better  accommodate  his  convenience  also, 
so  that  the  government  could  have  liquidated  our  interest  debt  at  ma- 
turity, or  at  any  time  before  upon  presentation  and  have  had  almost 
every  dollar  of  our  gold  still  left  to  our  public  credit,  for  under  the 
operation  of  my  bill  no  one  will  ever  again  want  goldv  as  a  money, 
unless  they  are  going  to  leave  the  country. 

9th.  My  bill  is  written  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  though  the 
government  only  of  any  people  could  afford  to  assume  the  responsibil- 
ity of  keeping  and  perpetually  care  for  their  money,  without  being 
paid  for  doing  it,  the  government  of  any  people  can  well  afford  to, 
because  to  do  30  would  forever  place  the  government  above  having 
again  to  borrow,  at  least  until  they  had  exhausted  their  entire  mone- 
tary credit. 

10th.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  if  any  people  will  honor  their 
money  with  protection  from  all  unnecessary  use  as  a  currency,  sucfi 
protection  would  result  in  saving  to  the  perpetual  credit  of  the  world 
all  that  is  now  worn  out  and  wasted  by  its  unnecessary  use  as  a 
currency. 

,11th.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  all  classes  of  every  people  are 
of  right  entitled  to  an  absolutely  safe  place  for  the  deposits  of  their 
monetary  credits  and  that  every  government  ought  to  of  right  pro- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  143 

vide  for  a  national  banking  system  which  would  insure  every  depositor 
the  certain  and  prompt  payment  of  his  deposit,  even  though  the  bank 
should  fail. 

12th.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  every  national  bank  is  of  right 
entitled  to  government  protection  from  a  depositor's  panic. 

13th.  It  is  written  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  to  make  the 
national  bank  the  only  safe  place  of  deposit  will  insure  the  banker  the 
constant  and  perpetual  use  of  his  customers'  deposits,  and  bring  from 
their  hiding  place  the  millions  that  are  now  kept  secreted  in  private 
vaults. 

14th.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  to  insure  the  depositors  of  a 
bank  against  the  possibility  of  loss  and  then  to  insure  the  banker 
against  the  possibility  of  a  depositor's  panic  will  provide  for  the 
greatest  possible  stability  to  business  and  provide  for  the  greatest 
possible  protection  against  financial  panics. 

15th.  Tt  recognizes  the  fact  that  to  compel  the  miner  to  toil  un- 
til he  gets  23  and  22-100  grains  of  pure  gold,  or  the  value  of  it  in  some 
other  valuable  before  he~can  get  credit  for  a  dollar,  and  then  to  make 
the  banker  a  present  of  a  credit  for  a  dollar  to  go  out  in  competition 
with  the  .miner's  hard  earned  dollar,  and  simply  because  the  banker 
was  fortunate  enough  to  own  and  control  a  dollar  which  the  miner 
had  produced,  is  both  unfair  and  unjust  to  the  miner. 

But  this  is  not  all,  for  after  we  have  provided  for  the  very  best 
money  the  Author  of  Being  has  created  for  us,  and  have  provided  for 
the  greatest  possible  volume  of  it,  and  then  provide  for  the  most 
economic  and  for  the  most  efficient  use  of  all  we  may  ever  get,  and 
then  provide  for  an  absolutely  safe  place  of  deposit,  and  then  insure 
the  banker  against  the  possibility  of  a  depositor's  panic,  and  by  it 
provide  for  the  greatest  possible  business  stability  and  security 
against  financial  panics  and  their  awful  consequences,  we  are  still 
entitled  to  two  emergency  currency  rets  to  enable  legitimate  exercise 
of  government  credit  without  having  to  pay  interest  to  individuals, 
corporations  or  associations. 

The  first  we  need  in  the  interest  of  local  affairs  with  which  to 
meet  the  abnormal  demands  of  harvest,  or  other  kindred  local  re- 
quirements, which  often  demand  millions  of  dollars  in  a  locality  for 
only  tv/o  or  three  months  of  the  whole  year,  and  which  if  supplied  by 
the  government  for  a  share  of  the  profits,  would  not  only  insure  us 
a,  currency  equal  to  the  demands  of  any  harvest  expense,  but  it  would 
do  so  without  distressing  or  interfering  with  the  financiers  of  our 
money  centers,  and  without  interfering  with  the  permanent  and  con- 
stant employment  of  our  regular  currency,  and  besides  would  enable 
us  to  keep  at  home  the  millions  of  dollars  we  must  now  pay  to  the 
people  of  other  nations  for  the  use  of  their  money  with  which  to  har- 
vest, and  for  my  part,  I  would  much  rather  pay  to  the  public  credit 
of  my  own  people  whatever  interest  I  must  pay  for  the  use  of  an 
emergency  currency  than  to  pay  interest  to  any  other  people  of  the 
world. 

The  second  we  need  in  the  interest  of  government  with  which  to 
meet  the  emergencies  of  war  or  other  demands  upon  the  government  in 
excess  of  regular  receipts. 

That  an  act  of  this  kind  would  have  enabled  our  government  to 
have  met  the  expense  of  the  Spanish-American  war  and  without  bor- 
rowing a  dollar  of  any  individual,  corporation  or  association,  is  ^oo 
apparent  to  even  warrant  a  mention,  and  that  it  would  have  saved 
the  interference  with  the  local  business  interests  and  intentions  we 
imposed  upon  our  people  of  almost  every  county  of  our  entire  nation 
by  asking  them  to  subscribe  to  a  loan  for  government,  and  which 
very  greatly  interferred  with  the  normal  development  of  local  enter- 
prises both  on  the  farm  and  in  the  factory,  and  besides  which  such 
an  act  would  have  saved  to  the  public  credit  the  interest  we  must 


144  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

now  pay  to  the  individuals,  corporations  and  associations  who  loaned 
our  government  their  money,  so  as  a  people  we  have  not  only  had  to 
suffer  the  self-denial  imposed  by  a  postponement  of  the  local  business 
interests,  comforts  and  conveniences  to  the  two  hundred  .million  dol- 
lars we  subscribed  for  our  public  defense  would  have  enabled  us  to 
have  accomplished  and  provided,  but  now  after  suffering  the  self- 
denial  of  our  interests  and  wishes  for  years  we  are  subject  to  a  tax 
for  the  interest  to  be  paid  those  who  loaned  the  government  their 
funds,  yet  ihe  tax  we  contribute  for  the  interest  on  our  Spanish-Amer- 
ican war  debt  is  insignificant  compared  with  the  consequences  and 
costs  to  business  of  withdrawing  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  of  our 
permanent  currency  out  of  the  ordinary  channels  of  business  enter- 
prises; and  if  there  can  be  any  safe  way  of  meeting  the  demands  of 
any  such  emergency  with  an  emergency  currency  and  permit  the 
regular  currency  to  remain  in  tBe  regular  employment  of  domestic 
industry,  we  are  of  right  entitled  to  it,  and  should  be  permitted  to 
enjoy  its  advantages. 

To  Recapitulate: — My  bill  will  provide  for  a  money  and  a  monetary 
system  of  a  definite  standard  and  illustrates  the  principles  involved 
in  providing  for  the  greatest  possible  convenience  in  money  and  in 
providing  for  the  greatest  possible  volume  of  it,  and  in  providing  for 
the  most  economic  use  of  it,  and  providing  for  the  most  efficient 
use  of  all  we  may  ever  get.  It  shows  how  to  accord  each  factor  with 
its  respective  rights  and  interests;  it  shows  how  to  liquidate  our 
interest-bearing  bonds  with  our  present  monetary  credit,  and  how  to 
keep  from  ever  again  having  to  borrow;  it  shows  how  to  provide  an 
elastic  emergency  currency,  equal  to  the  demands  of  any  harvest, 
and  how  to  do  so  to  the  advantage  of  our  public  credit  instead  of  to 
the  money-lenders  of  other  nations;  it  shows  how  to  exercise  gov- 
ernment credit  in  its  own  defense,  or  in  promotion  of  the  general  wel- 
fare, without  paying  interest  until  it  has  at  least  exhausted  its  entire 
monetary  reserve,  and  does  so  without  injury,  cost  or  inconvenience 
to  any  one;  it  provides  for  a  banking  system  with  all  the  advantages, 
and  with  even  greater  security  to  the  depositor  than  a  pa-rent  banking 
system,  and  does  so  without  subjecting  any  place  or  locality  to  the 
competition  of  any  kind  of  a  parent  banking  trust — not  to  mention  one 
£>uch  as  Mr.  Fowler  proposes,  in  which  one  set  of  directors,  if  not  one 
man,  may  dictate  the  entire  currency  issue  of  a  nation,  and  then  enter 
into  competition  with  the  banking  interest  of  any  other  nation  who 
may  permit  us  a  franchise  and  charter,  a  condition  which  would  permit 
the  banking  interests  of  the  whole  world  to  unite  in  the  interest  of  a 
monopoly,  when  and  whereas  the  only  security  to  any  people  of  accom- 
modation at  reasonable  compensation  is  that  of  competition. 

My  bill  provides  a  banking  system  which  will  forever  insure  every 
national  bank  against  the  possibility  of  a  depositor's  panic,  for  it  pro- 
vides a  condition  which  will  induce  every  one  to  bring  out  of  hiding 
and  out  of  private  keeping  to  the  bank  every  dollar  that  can  be 
spared  from  their  pockets  and  their  tills,  and  then  to  let  them  forever 
stay  subject  to  the  use  of  the  bank,  unless  absolutely  needed,  for 
under  my  bill  the  national  bank  is  to  be  the  only  safe  place  on  eartfi 
to  the  individual,  corporation  or  association,  for  monetary  credit 
consequently  no  one  will  ever  take  a  dollar  from  the  bank  until  com- 
pelled to  use  it,  and  then  it  will  be  brought  back  just  as  soon  as  one 
gets  it  who  does  not  need  it  in  the  pocket  or  in  the  till,  and  conse- 
quently there  can  never  be  another  financial  panic  caused  by  the 
depositor's  withdrawal  of  his  deposit  through  fear  of  the  bank's  failure. 

My  bill  will  unite  the  entire  banking  interests  of  the  nation  in 
a  common  cause  to  defend  themselves  against  all  kinds  of  reckless- 
ness, mismanagement  and  rascality,  and  which  ought  to  result  in  so 
uniform,  rigid  and  comprehensive  a  regulation  that,  instead  of  bank's 
failing  every  month,  we  shall  not  have  a,  bank  failure  in  months,  and 
intelligently  managed  there  need  never  be  another. 

My  bill  enacted  will  relieve  the  j7overnment  from  repeated  or 
endless  redemption,  which  in  the  past  has  cost  us  many  millions;  It 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  145 

will  relieve  us  from  all  expense  of  circulation,  which  now  costs  us  be- 
tween a  third  and  a  half  million  dollars  a  year;  it  will  also  relieve  us 
from  all  unnecessary  expense  of  coinage,  which  now  costs  us  thou- 
sands of  dollars  annually. 

My  bill  is  applicable  to  the  whole  world  and  provides  a  condition 
in  which  every  nation  from  the  least  to  the  greatest  may  unite  and 
adopt  the  highest  possible  standard  of  money,  provide  a  coin"  and  cur- 
rency of  identical  parity  and  enjoy  the  free  and  unlimited  use  of 
everything  entitled  to  use  as  a  money. 

Our  present  monetary  act  and  system  does  not  provide  for  a 
single  condition  of  the  twenty-five  herein  enumerated,  but  Mr.  Fowl- 
er's proposed  bill  would  provide  for  two  of  them,  viz.:  a  definite  stand- 
ard and  relief  from  endless  redemption.  His  bill  would  also  provide 
for  an  issue  of  permanent  currency  upon  a  bank  capital,  which  may  be 
squandered  at  any  time,  but  he  would  deny  the  miner  the  privilege 
of  exchanging  his  indestructible  money  metal  for  a  currency.  My 
bill  would  say  to  all  alike,  that  if  any  one,  corporation  or  association, 
wants  to  increase  the  coin  or  currency  of  our  United  States  you  must 
bring  to  the  credit  of  the  government  gold  or  some  other  valuable 
entitled  to  the  credit  of  money  before  you  can  have  it.  And  which  of 
the  two  conditions  do  you  believe  will  be  best?  Which  would  you 
rather  have,  a  currency  of  your  nation,  the  representative  of  a  val- 
uable, in  the  care  and  keeping  of  your  nation,  and  which  you  or  any 
one  else  might  get  at  any  time  if  needed,  and  when  not  needed  be  a 
perpetual  credit  to  your  government,  and  always  available  for  the 
protection  and  promotion  of  your  public  welfare,  without  waiting 
to  borrow  or  having  to  pay  interest,  and  the  only  limit  of  our  volume 
of  such  credit  to  be  the  value  of  the  money  metals  we  may  mine?/  Or 
would  you  prefer  a  currency  issued  upon  the  credit  of  a  bank,  which 
would  be  a  constant  liability  and  fruitful  source  of  panics  and  then  be 
denied  the  privilege  of  credit  for  the  production  of  our  mines,  and  be- 
sides have  our  nation  a  helpless  one,  dependent  upon  and  subject  at 
every  emergency  to  the  dictation  of  a  set  of  bankers?  1  would  choose 
the  currency  of  our  nation,  issued  for  gold,  or  the  gold  value  of  some 
other  valuable,  which  fire  cannot  burn,  nor  frost  blight,  nor  hot  winds 
parch,  nor  rascality  squander,  but  which  may  endure  as  a  monetary 
credit  and  source  of  financial  independence  to  our  nation  forever;  and 
now  let  all  understand  that  it  is  up  to  the  American  people  to  decide  at 
our  next  congress  which  of  the  two  policies  and  conditions  we  shall 
have,  and  let  all  understand  that  if  we  permit  a  parent  banking  trust 
to  be  fastened  upon  us  that  we  shall  subject  ourselves  to  a  trust 
that  will  fleece  every  locality  for  the  benefit  of  the  parent,  and  to 
which  our  nation  may  be  as  helpless  a  dupe  as  is  England  to  the  Bank 
of  England. 

To  provide  a  banking  system  which  shall  permit  the  government 
to  insure  them  against  the  possibility  of  a  depositor's  panic  will 
provide  a  stability  to  banking  and  to  business  and  a  security  to  invest- 
ment hitherto  unknown. 

My  bill  will  relieve  every  national  bank  from  tKe  obligation  of 
holding  or  maintaining  a  gold  reserve. 

My  bill  would  forever  place  our  government  above  having  to 
borrow,  while  our  present  act,  or  that  which  Mr.  Fowler  proposes, 
would  forever  subject  us  to  the  necessity  of  borrowing  at  every  emer- 
gency exceeding  current  receipts.  Would  it  not  be  a  pleasure  to 
see  our  nation  out  of  interest  debt  and  with  more  than  a  billion 
dollars  in  gold  and  with  half  as  many  gold  dollars'  worth  of  other 
money  metals  to  our  public  credit,  or  would  you  rather  see  our  nation 
with  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  to  our  public  credit 
and  subject  to  an  interest-bearing  debt  of  practically  one  billion  dol- 
lars, drawing  an  annual  interest  of  at  least  twenty  million  dollars? 
I  would  like  to  see  Uncle  Sam  free  from  ever  having  to  pay  another 
cent  of  interest,  and.  out  on  the  highway  of  possibility  with  billions 
of  dollars  to  his  credit,  and  I  would  like  to  see  our  people  enjoying  the 
privilege  of  increasing  the  volume  of  their  public  credit  to  the  value 


146  OFFICIAL,    PROCEEDINGS 

of  all  the  money  metals  our  energy  and  enterprise  may  inspire  us  to 
produce,  for  if  permitted  the  privilege  of  unlimited  use  of  all  .money 
metals  we  would  increase  our  monetary  credit  by  at  least  fifty  million 
gold  dollars'  worth  annually  above  what  we  will  do,  or  can  do,  under 
the  present  act,  or  under  the  bill  which  Mr.  Fowler  proposes,  so  that 
as  I  see  it,  my  bill  enacted  at  the  time  of  our  present  act  would  have 
saved  to  our  public  credit  the  interest  on  our  present  debt,  amounting 
to  about  twenty  million  dollars  annually,  and  which  for  thirty  years 
would  have  amounted  to  more  than  $500,000,000,  and  besides  would 
have  saved  the  expense  of  circulation,  which  now  amounts  to  more 
than  a  million  dollars,  and  all  of  which  I  offered  to  show  Secretary 
Gage  of  what  and  how  to  do,  if  he  would  only  agree  to  recommend 
that  congress  allow  me  something  for  the  suggestion;  but  he  replied 
that  it  was  impractical  to  offer  any  compensation  for  a  suggestion  on 
.the  improvement  of  our  monetary  or  currency  interests,  and  which 
I  understood  to  mean  that  he  thought  y>e  certainly  knew  as  well  as 
I  possibly  could,  and  I  judge  that  I  might,  as  far  as  his  reason  con- 
ceived, just  as  well  have  said,  "Here,  secretary,  I  will  ehow  you  how 
to  make  Niagara  run  straight  up,"  as  to  have  offered  any  plan  for 
the  liquidation  of  our  bonds  instead  of  refunding  them.  It  was  so 
far  ahead  of  any  conception  of  his,  and  the  offer  of  providing  for  the 
free  and  unlimited  use  of  silver,  under  a  gold  standard,  was,  I  3udge, 
to  him,  little  or  no  less  absurd.  But  I  believe  that  even  a  casual 
glance  at  my  bill  will  convince  any  expert  that  it  will  provide  every 
claim  enumerated,  and  if  so,  it  solves  the  monetary  interests  of  the 
world  forever. 

There  is  but  one  question  involved,  it  seems  to  me,  which  any 
financier  would  stumble  over  and  fail  to  comprehend,  and  that  is,  if 
great  quantities  of  silver  should  be  received  at,  say  one  dollar  an 
ounce,  and  then  eventually  it  should  ever  decline  to  fifty  cents  an 
ounce,  would  not  the  government  lose  the  decline?  It  seems  so,  but 
I  answer  no;  for  under  the  conditions  provided  the  government  can 
never  lose  a  cent,  and  for  several  reasons,  among  them  which  are, 
first,  that  we  do  not  give  anything  for  it,  we  only  receipt  for  it  in 
currency,  so  that  before  we  could  ever  lose  in  the  deal  the  currency 
must  come  back  and  the  silver  be  all  withdrawn  from  the  government, 
so  as  to  compel  the  government  to  buy  to  make  up  the  deficiency, 
and,  secondly,  we  have  provided  a  condition  in  which  it  would  be 
as  impossible  to  return  the  currency  so  as  to  take  the  silver  away 
from  the  government  as  it  would  to  invert  the  law  of  gravity  and 
compel  the  rivers  to  flow  to  the  summit  of  the  mountains,  for  the 
rivers  are  no  less  subject  to  the  law  of  gravity  than  our  currency, 
under  my  bill,  is  subject  to  the  law  of  necessity.  I  believe  that  it 
will  be  plain  to  every  student  of  currency  that  under  my  "bill  to  ever 
take  a  monetary  credit  from  the  government,  the  one  taking  it  must 
retire  his  currency,  and  consequently  forego  and  give  up  the  business 
opportunity  his  currency  would  afford  him,  for  my  bill  will  make  of 
the  government  an  ocean  into  which  all  money  metals  must  be  placed 
before  they  can  be  made  available  as  a  monetary  or  currency  credit, 
and  consequently  when  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  government  it  will 
be  for  the  sake  of  a  currency^  and  so  before  they  can  ever  be  taken 
from  the  government  the  people  must  decide  to  give  up  their  currency 
and  abandon  business  absolutely,  and  to  abandon  business  absolutely 
would  mean  death  to  all  at  once,  for  the  world  cannot  live  without 
the  transaction  of  business;  and  under  my  bill  the  only  way  to  get  a 
currency  at  all  with  which  to  do  business  is  to  place  some  money 
metal  to  the  credit  of  the  government,  and  then  the  only  way  to  keep 
a  currency  with  which  to  transact  business  is  to  let  the  money  metals 
stay  to  the  credit  of  the  government,  and,  as  has  been  said,  the  trans- 
action of  business  is  an  absolute  necessity  of  life  itself,  not  to  mention 
any  of  the  comforts  01  conveniences  of  civilized  life,  or  means  of  in- 
formation, or  education,  each  and  all  of  which"  are  absolutely  depend- 
ent upon  the  use  and  employment  of  a  currency,  for  without  a  cur- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  147 

rency  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  have  a  book,  a  paper,  or  any  other 
means  of  education,  or  in  fact  anything  else  beyond  the  natural  pro- 
visions of  nature,  for  without  a  currency  it  would  be  impossible  to 
have  an  implement,  or  shop  of  manufacture,  or  any  vehicle  of  con- 
veyance, or  ship  of  commerce;  so  it  seems  to  me  that  the  impossibility 
of  ever  taking  the  money  metals  from  our  government,  under  the 
operation  of  my  bill,  will  be  plain  to  all  students  of  the  question,  and 
if  my  bill  is  an  improvement  on  what  the  world  has  ever  had  so  far, 
its  enactment  does  not  involve,  like  most  improvements,  an  outlay  or 
investment  of  great  capital  in  its  provision,  for  the  only  expense  ne- 
cessary to  its  enactment  is  merely  its  writing,  and  then  its  operations 
will  be  cheaper  by  many  thousand  dollars  annually  than  what  we  now 
have,  and  best  of  all  it  is  in  the  interest  of  every  person  and  against 
no  one;  while  to  do  anything  less  in  a  monetary  measure  in  this  age 
of  reason  than  to  provide  for  the  very  best  money  the  Author  of 
Being  has  provided  for  us,  and  then  at  least  to  provide  for  every  con- 
dition of  its  enjoyment,  enumerated  in  my  bill,  would  be  to  disgrace 
ourselves,  expose  our  ignorance  to  the  world  and  unnecessarily  de- 
fraud and  deprive  ourselves  of  what  the  Author  of  Being  haa  pro- 
vided for  us.  Very  Respectfully  submitted, 

CHAS.  ALBERT  LONG. 

Pomeroy.  Wash. 

PRESIDENT  RIOHARDS:  Mr.  Drake,  of  Oregon,  desires  to 
make  a  few  remarks  at  this  time. 

MR.  DRAKE,  OP  OREGON:  Mr.  President,  Gentlemen  of  the 
Convention  and  Delegates:  I  appreciate  the  necessity  for  those  who 
have  anything  to  say  to  be  brief  and  to  the  point.  The  100th  anni- 
versary of  the  acquisition  of  the  Oregon  territory  originally  by  the 
United  States,  which  was  acquired  by  Captains  Lewis  and  Clark, 
appointed  by  President  Jefferson,  will  soon  be  here.  It  was  a  great 
event.  I  have  no  time  now  or  inclination  to  discuss  fb  or  to  deliver 
a  lecture  to  you.  Some  eighteen  months  ago  the  people  of  Idaho, 
Washington,  Oregon  and  Montana  in  a  general  way  began  to  discuss 
the  100th  anniversary  and  some  appropriations  were  made  to  celebrate 
that  glorious  event.  At  the  last  session  of  this  congress  this  question 
came  up  and  it  was  one  of  the  first  organizations  to  take  cognizance 
of  the  propriety  of  the  observance  of  that  anniversary  and  by  reso- 
lutions adopted  at  Butte,  declared  itself  in  favor  of  the  observation 
of  that  anniversary  by  the  people  of  the  Northwest.  Since  that  time 
an  organization  has  'been  perfected  in  Oregon  by  an  incorporation 
to  which  private  subscriptions  have  been  made  in  large  sums  of  money 
for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  that  event  at  Portland,  its  chief  city. 
The  state  of  Oregon  has  appropriated  $500,000  in  furtherance  of  this 
object.  Every  one  of  the  mining  states  through  its  legislature  has 
appropriated  moneys  and  funds  for  the  purpose  of  mineral  exhibits 
and  for  the  exploitation  of  this  industry  at  St.  Louis  and  Portland. 
All  this  has  been  done  since  the  first  recommendation  on  the  part  of 
congress  and  I  desire  now,  if  you  will  kindly  permit  me,  to  read  a  little 
review  of  this  action  in  the  form  of  pamphlets  and  a  further  declara- 
tion on  behalf  of  this  Congress  on  the  propriety  of  the  furtherance 
of  the  objects  of  that  organization,  and  ask  you  to  adopt  them. 

The  resolution  was  referred  to  the  committee  on  resolutions. 

MR.  MUIR,  OF  OREGON:  As  one  of  the  delegates  from  Oregon, 
I  wish  to  read  a  telegram  from  the  representative  of  the  State  Mining 
Congress  that  is  now  in  session  at  Portland. 

"Portland,  Ore.,  Sept.  7th,  '03. 
Oregon  Delegation  A.  M.  Congress,  Deadwood,  S.  D.,  Franklin  Hotel: 

State  Miners'  Association  perfected  today  with  large  representa- 
tion from  all  parts  of  state  sends  greeting  to  American  Mining  Con- 
gress and  desires  that  Portland  be  its  next  meeting  point.  A  cordial 
reception  will  be  given.  A.  L.  MORRIS,  Secretary." 


148  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

We  come  here  from  Oregon  to  attend  this  Congress  for  the  benefit 
of  the  mining  interests  of  this  territory.  We  do  not  come  here  to 
represent  any*  exposition  that  may  come  in  1905  or  any  other  year. 
It  is  to  the  advantage  of  the  state  of  Oregon  or  any  other  state  to  get 
this  Congress  to  meet  at  the  very  first  opportunity  and  we  desire  the 
Congress  to  be  held  at  Portland  in  1904.  We  desire  that  *he  American 
Mining  Congress  will  receive  the  entire  attention  that  can  be  given  it 
when  the  city  is  at  itself  and  not  when  other  matters  require  its 
attention  as  it  will  be  in  1905.  Nineteen  hundred  and  four  is  the  year 
we  want  it.  (Cheers.) 

MR.  BENNETT,  OF  MINNESOTA:  I  have  a  short  resolution  I 
would  like  to  offer  if  it  is  in  order.  I  would  like  to  state  what  prompted 
that  resolution  by  stating  the  circumstances.  There  came  to  our  city 
a  few  years  ago  from  Washington  and  I  am  going  to  divide  the  honors 
of  this  case  between  Washington  and  South  Dakota,  the  statutes 
under  which  the  organizatin  was  made,  and  Idaho.  The  gentleman 
came  to  Minneapolis  and  of  my  knowledge  he  did  not  have  enough 
to  pay  a  month's  rent  for  rooms.  In  a  year,  and  a  half  he  had  organized 
four  corporations,  wheels  within  wheels,  with  nothing  under  heaven 
but  options  on  property.  The  last  corporation  he  organized  was  for 
a  half  billion  dollars,  then  our  attorney  general  aroused  himself  and 
the  public  examiner  cleaned  him  out  of  town;  but  in  the  meantime 
he  had  cleaned  out  the  servant  girls,  stenographers  and  clerks  and 
some  of  the  old  ladies  and  widows  and  a  few  preachers,  and  took 
away  about  $250,000.  They  couldn't  find  he  had  any  money;  it  was 
gone.  Those  things  do  not  tend  to  create  confidence  of  the  general 
public  in  mining  enterprises.  It  creates  quite  the  reverse.  The  miner 
gets  the  benefit  of  it  by  having  to  sacrifice  at  least  half  of  his  property 
before  he  gets  in  a  position  where  he  can  realize  anything,  so  it  oc- 
curs to  me  that  the  Congress  ask  the  various  legislatures  to  protect 
their  own  people  and  at  the  same  time  protect  the  miner  by  such 
legislation  as  they  may  pass  to  check  this  evil,  for  it  is  a  general  evil, 
not  confined  by  any  means  to  any  one  place. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  resolution  will  be  referred  to  the 
committee. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  Apropos  to  that  resolution 
I  would  like  to  suggest  this,  that  corporations  organized  for  the  pur- 
pose of  selling  mining  stocks  are  not  the  only  ones  that  are  over- 
capitalized and  largely  inflated.  You  need  only  to  go  down  to  New 
York  and  New  Jersey  to  find  organizations  capitalized  for  millions  and 
billions,  as  the  gentleman  has  suggested,  many,  many  times  more 
than  their  intrinsic  value,  so  that  I  would  suggest  that  resolution  be 
for  all  organizations. 

MR.  CONZETTE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  principle  involved 
in  this  resolution  is  all  right,  there  is  no  question  about  that,  but  it 
strikes  me  that  our  organization  cannot  constitute  itself  the  guardian 
of  the  people  and  if  we  attempt  to  constitute  ourself  the  guardian  of 
the  people  we  couldn't  do  it.  The  suckers  will  bite,  no  matter  what 
sort  of  protection,  legal  or  otherwise,  you  .might  throw  around  them, 
and  another  thing,  I  don't  like  to  advertise  in  a  resolution  of  this 
kind  that  the  mining  countries  are  full  of  those  things.  If  you  will 
amend  the  resolution  to  simply  state  that  this  Mining  Congress  pro- 
tests against  over-capitalization  or  anything  of  that  kind,  I  am  with 
it.  But  to  go  on  in  that  resolution  and  specify  that  the  mining  coun- 
tries are  overrun  with  that  sort  of  thing,  you  are  conveying  an  idea 
to  the  people  outside  that  may  give  them  a  wrong  impression. 

A  short  recess  was  taken. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  In  order  that  the  committee  on  nomi- 
nations may  have  an  opportunity  to  work  over  the  evening,  I  have 
appointed  on  that  committee  Mr.  Patterson  of  Nebraska;  Mr.  Grayson, 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  149 

of  Oregon ;  Mr.  Rinehart,  of  Colorado,  Mr.  Jackson,  of  Idaho,  and  Mr. 
George,  of  South  Dakota,  to-  make  recommendations  to  this  body. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  I  would  like  to  have  that 
committee  meet  at  their  convenience  at  the  Franklin  Hotel  at  8  o'clock 
this  evening. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  listen  to  an  address 
from  Dr.  Stephen  de  Zombory  on  "Aerial  Tramways  as  an  Economic 
Means  of  Transportation." 

.Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  In  addressing  you  upon  the  subject  of 
aerial  tramways  as  an  economic  means  of  transportation,  it  is  not  my 
object  to  enter  into  a  technical  discussion  of  the  subject  but  rather 
to  discuss  the  conditions  which  warrant  the  construction  of  such  aids 
to  mining  enterprises  and  those  types  which  will  give  'the  most  satis- 
factory results  from  the  mine  operator's  point  of  view,  as  well  as  some 
Df  the  many  advantages  of  this  system  of  transporting  ores  from  the 
mine  to  the  reducing  plant. 

The  time  is  too  short  to  enter  into  an  extended  discussion  of 
tramways  and  their  development.  As  a  curious  fact  we  could  mention 
that  wire  ropes  served  for  transportation  methods  many  centuries  past 
and  research  among  the  ruins  of  Pompeii  have  brought  to  light  wire 
rope,  specimens  of  which  are  to  be  seen  in  museums  in  Naples  at  this 
day.  Or  I  could  mention,  too,  that  there  are  woo-i  cuts  in  some  of 
the  medieval  German  books  which  show  perfectly  developed  tram- 
ways. The  early  sciences  of  this  method  of  transportation  passed  into 
oblivion,  however,  and  it  was  not  brought  again  into  extended  use 
until  the  40s  of  the  lust  century. 

Almost  from  the  origin  of  trams  we  find  that  two  distinct  types 
were  known — the  single  and  the  double  rope  trams.  The  home  of  the 
former  was  in  England,  while  the  double  rope  system  is  extensively 
used  in  Germany  and  the  whole  world.  So  widely  spread  is  the  use 
of  rope  tramways  that  it  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  in  Germany 
there  is  a  single  manufacturing  concern  which  during  the  quarter  of 
s  century  it  has  been  in  existence  has  turned  out  over  1,800  tramways. 

The  experience  of  the  past  two  or  three  decades  have  shown 
marked  advantages  of  this  type  of  transportation.  Discussing  the 
merits  of  both  the  single  and  double  rope  types  the  advantages  might 
be  expressed  thus: 

Undulated  profile  is  of  little  importance,  since  these  tramways 
are  equally  effective  on  plains  or  in  a  very  mountainous  country: 
Expensive  understructures,  viaducts  or  trestle  work  is  absolutely  un- 
necessary, the  ropes  being  suspended  on  wooden  towers  which  are  of 
simple  construction,  erected  at  intervals  of  two  or  three  hundred  feet. 
If  the  formation  of  the  ground  does  not  permit  these  distances,  it  is 
possible  to  construct  spans  of  even  as  many  thousand  feet.  Deep 
gulches  and  ravines,  which  are  effectual  barriers  to  transportation 
means  of  other  types,  offer  no  obstruction  to  a  rope  tramway  'and 
some  of  the  finest  tramways  in  the  country  have  solved  just  such 
problems  for  mine  operators.  Climatic  conditions  in  no  manner  inter- 
fere with  the  action  of  a  tramway,  permitting  the  continuous  oper- 
ation in  most  inclement  weather.  Thus  the  heavy  expense  of  keep- 
ing mountain  roads  open  during  the  winter  are  avoided.  Being  eco- 
nomical both  of  construction  and  maintenance,  it  proves  to  be  the 
real  friend  of  mine  operators  who  are  operating  on  even  a  moderate 
capital. 

Another  marked  advantage  is  the  fact  that  the  ti^ie  occupied  in 
construction  is  much  less  than  for  the  construction  of  other  systems 
of  transportation,  specially  is  this  true  in  mountainous  country.  The 
adaptability  of  the  tramway  is  so  great  that  it  will  meet  vthe  most 
urgent  demands  made  upon  it  and,  unlike  rail  or  wagon  roads,  should 
occasion  demand,  the  plant  can  be  wrecked  and  installed  in  a  new  lo- 
cation at  moderate  cost  and  with  a  surprisingly  short  loss  in  oper- 
ating time. 


150  OFFICIAL,    PROCEEDINGS 

In  the  main  these  advantages  apply  to  both  the  single  and  double 
rope  types.  I  do  not  feel  myself  entitled  to  condemn^  either  type. 
Both  have  their  advantages.  I  only  will  compare.  Th~e  single  rope 
type  being  much  simpler  in  its  construction,  having  less  parts,  has 
the  advantage  in  being  cheap  in  primary  cost  and  erection.  Its  prin- 
cipal drawback  is  that  it  can  convey  only  a  limited  amount  of  ma- 
terial. There  are  tramways  of  this  system  with  an  hourly  capacity 
of  35  tons,  yet  these  particular  tramways  did  not  get  beyond  the 
experimental  stage  and  it  is  not  advisable  to  deliver  more  than  20 
tons  an  hour.  The  practical  mine  operator  wbose  hope  and  ambition 
is  to  vastly  increase  the  output  of  his  mine  would  hardly  consent  to 
install  a  system  which  in  itself  was  so  limited  in  capacity.  Yet  its 
main  advantage,  as  stated,  is  its  cheapness  of  construction,  a  fact 
which  always  must  be  taken  into  consideration. 

Another  disadvantage  of  this  system  is  the  fact  thaf  the  strain 
upon  the  parts  is  heavy,  with  consequent  expense  of  repairs  and  loss 
of  time  in  operation,  itself  no  small  item  in  working  costs. 

The  double  rope  system,  which  is  of  far  more  extensive  use,  is 
more  costly  in  installation  but  is  always  advantageous  on  account  of 
its  capability  of  increased  capacity  as  occasion  demands  in  the  future 
development  and  output  of  a  mine.  Speaking  of  capacity,  I  could 
mention  that  there  are  lines  which  deliver  250  tons  of  ore  per  hour, 
which  is  really  a  tremendous  output.  This  special  line  has  been  in 
almost  continuous  operation  since  the  fall  of  1898  and  since  its  in- 
stallation, Its  repairs  have  been  of  such  trifling  cost  that  eveff  its 
builders  have  been  surprised.  (Vivero  span),  English  syndicate.  Oper- 
ating costs  are  low.  Ore  Colorado  tramway,  which  traverses  a  very 
rought,  mountainous  country,  approximately  10.000  feet  in  lenglh,  is 
handling  ore  at  a  cost  of  17.6  cents  per  ton,  with  the  cost  of  mainte- 
nance 1.5  cents  per  ton.  These  admirably  low  figures  are  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  systems  now  being  perfected  require  the  services  of  very 
few  men  on  the  entire  line.  The  addition  of  automatic  devices  which 
perform  the  work  of  loading  and  dumping  have  gradually  decreased 
the  labor  costs  until  now  only  one  or  two  men  are  required  to  watch 
the  loading  of  the  buckets.  As  is  generally  understood,  most  of  the 
double  rope  tramways  which  are  in  operation  through  the  mining 
districts  of  the  country  require  no  power,  being  operated  by  gravity 
entirely.  Even  then  the  power  which  is  nroduced  bv  the  weierht  of 
the  buckets  can  be  turned  in  a  source  of  profit,  being  sufficient  to 
meet  demands  for  ventilating  purposes,  for  the  operation  of  dynamos 
for  lighting  plants  and  operating  mine  pumps,  as  can  be  seen  in  some 
of  the  larger  Western  mines. 

The  division  of  the  strain  upon  the  ropes  of  thi*  double  rope  sys- 
tem reduces  the  repair  bills  and  at  the  same  time  renders  the  stop- 
pages less  frequent. 

Returning  for  a  moment  to  the  matter  of  automatic  systems: 
There  is  today  a  tendency  to  render  these  tramways  more  and  more 
automatic  in  their  operation.  It  is  a  question  in  the  mind  of  the 
trained  engineer  just  what  is  the  limit.  What  is  of  more  concern  to 
the  prospective  or  actual  owner  of  a  tramway?  How  far  can  we  go 
in  making  the  tram  entirely  independent  of  human  control  but  then 
take  the  risk  of  the  eventualities  which  are  connected  with  all  such 
machinery? 

Reduction  of  labor  costs  is  always  an  object  in  considering  oper- 
ating costs,  but  yet,  in  the  opinion  of  many  engineers,  it  will  not  be 
advisable  to  entirely  dispense  with  it.  The  aim  of  the  constructing 
engineer  should  be  to  plan  a  tramway  which  would  be  as  nearly  auto- 
matic as  consistent,  with  due  regard  for  the  safe  conveyance  of  its 
traffic. 

In  all  the  double  rope  systems  which  are  in  general  use,  tSe 
principle  of  construction  is  the  same.  That  is,  the  ropes,  pullevs 
and  sheaves,  as  well  as  the  other  machinery  in  use,  perform  their 
duties  in  the  same  general  fashion,  differing  only  in  design.  The 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  151 

difference  between  the  systems  is  chiefly  in  the  manner  of  attaching 
buckets  to  the  rope.  Therefore,  double  rope  tramways  might  be 
divided  into  three  general  types: 

First,  that  system  in  which  a  clip  or  lug-nut  is  permanently  at- 
tached to  the  running  rope  which  drags  the  bucket  suspended  on  a 
standing  or  immovatle  rope. 

Second,  that  system  in  which  a  clutch  fastened  to  a  bucket 
seizes  the  running  rope  and  remains  attached  thereto  by  means  of 
friction.  This  latter  system  might  be  further  subdivided  into  two 
classes:  One  in  which  the  friction  is  created  by  an  eccentrically 
operating  lever  locked  and  released  automatically,  securing  a  constant 
friction,  that  is,  independent  olf  the  angle  which  the  traction  rope 
forms  with  the  horizontal;  second,  one  in  which  the  clutch  exerts 
friction  on  the  traction  rope  by  a  lever  on  which  the  weight  of  the 
bucket  is  transmitted.  This  friction  varies  with  the  cosinus  of  the 
angle  the  line  forms  with  the  Horizontal. 

The  third  and  latest  development  is  that  system  in  which  the 
buckets  are  fastened  permanently  at  certain  distances  to  the  traction 
rope.  On  this  system  the  buckets  are  loaded  with  a  walking  bin 
which  runs  simultaneously  on  parallel  rails  above  the  buckets  in  the 
station,  loading  the  same. 

It  is  here  impossible  to  enter  again  into  extended  discussion  of  the 
merits  of  these  three  systems  of  double  rope  tnmways.  As  my  time 
is  drawing  to  a  close,  I  will  cnly  mention  some  of  the  most  marked 
differences.  The  clip  system  enables  us  to  handle  the  buckets  at 
exactly  the  same  intervals.  This  prevents  accidents  which  might 
result  from  the  failure  of  laborers  to  keep  the  bucKets  loaded  and 
moving  at  the  proper  distances.  One  marked  disadvantage  of  this 
type  is  the  fact  that  the  weai  on  the  traction  rope  is  constantly  in 
the  same  place,  thereby  weakening  the  strength  of  the  rope  at  these 
points.  Shifting  the  clips  from  time  to  time  is  icsorted  to  in  an 
effort  to  overcome  this  difficulty  but  with  a  more  or  less  extended 
loss  of  time.  In  the  second  class  this  difficulty  is  not  encountered 
because  the  grip  seldom  ever  clutches  the  same  spot  on  the  traction 
ropes  twice  in  succession.  Slight  alterations,  also,  in  the  relative 
positions  of  the  buckets  on  the  rope  work  no  disadvantage  in  the 
operation  of  the  second  type.  To  secure  an  even  distribution  of  the 
buckets  along  the  line,  signals  are  easily  arranged  by  which  the 
workman  is  enabled  to  estimate  the  proper  intervals.  Witfi  the  as- 
sistance of  the  eccentrically  working  frictional  grip  arrangement,  as 
well  as  with  the  clip,  all  grades  can  be  overcome,  because  the  fric- 
tion on  the  rope  is  constant  and  uniform.  In  the  type  in  which  the* 
weight  of  the  bucket  is  transferred  by  means  of  a  lever  on  the  clutch 
and  is  transformed  to  friction,  the  limitation  of  grades  which  can 
be  overcome  is  confined  to  those  not  in  excess  of  4  degrees. 

The  third  system,  that  in  which  the  buckets  are  attached  perma- 
nently to  the  traction  rope,  is  probably  the  most  promising  one,  as 
here  the  loading  as  well  as  the  unloading  of  the  buckets  is  auto- 
matic, with  corresponding  saving  in  operating  expenses.  The  more 
or  less  complicated  clip  catchers  and  grips  are  done  away  with.  It 
requires  buckets  of  less  expensive  construction  and  overcomes  any 
grade  that  any  other  system  of  rope  tramways  can  traverse.  This 
last  type  of  construction  is  of  such  recent  development  that  com- 
paratively few  plants  are  in  operation  in  this  country.  As  far  as  is 
known  it  renders  most  successful  service. 

And  now  a  word  as  to  the  costs  of  installation  of  rope  tramways. 
Naturally,  the  single  rope  tramway  is  the  cheaper  type  of  construc- 
tion but  popular  opinion  is  more  favorable  towards  the  double  rope 
tramway,  as  evidenced  by  the  number  of  that  type  which  have  been 
and  are  being  installed  by  mine  managers.  The  heavier  the  traffic 
to  be  handled,  the  heavier  and  more  substantial  parts  must  be  used 
in  the  construction  work.  Many  other  considerations,  based  upon 
the  peculiar  conditions  which  attend  the  installation  of  tramways  at 
different  mines,  muse  be  considered  in  the  individual  case.  Generally 


152  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

speaking,  we  are  within  limits  when  we  say  that  including  all  the 
machinery  parts  the  average  price  per  foot  of  a  line  constructed  may 
be  regarded  as  ranging  from  $1.80  to  $2.00  per  foot.  These  figures 
include  the  necessary  wire  cables,  towers,  sheaves  and  buckets.  To 
these  figures  must  be  added  the  construction  cost,  which  vary  ac- 
cording to  freight  rates,  prices  of  timber,  labor  and  delivery  to  the 
point  of  construction.  Very  naturally  this  affords  a  wide  variation 
in  costs  but  as  an  example  it  might  be  cited  that  in  Colorado  the 
construction  costs  would  probably  be  from  $1  to  $1.15  per  foot.  There- 
fore, it  is  safe  to  estimate  the  entire  cost  of  a  tramway  per  foot  in  this 
region,  where  the  conditions  are  approximately  the  same  as  in  Colo- 
rado, at  from  $3  to  $3.10  per  running  foot. 

The  rope  tramways  and  their  application  to  mining  and  manu- 
facturing industries  the  world  over  is  a  subject  upon  which  any  engi- 
neer might  talk  for  hours.  The  economics  which  are  effected  in  all 
industries  in  which  their  use  is  possible  are  so  generally  recognized 
that  no  argument  in  their  behalf  is  necessary.  Every  mining  man 
of  the  West  can  probably  cite  examples  of  mines  whose  profitable 
operation  without  the  aid  of  tramways  would  not  be  possible.  The 
time  which  has  been  allotted  me  is  now  drawing  to  a  close  and  there- 
fore, in  conclusion,  let  me  repeat  a  poetic  tribute  to  the  tramway,  the 
work  of  a  fellow  engineer  unknown  to  me,  whose  beautiful  allegory 
is  more  expressive  th~an  language  of  my  own : 

"Nestled  silently  in  the  clouds,  away  up  above  the  timber  line, 
nature  has  hidden  almost  unaccepsibly  its  treasures.  Deep  down  in 
a  valley  stands  a  reduction  plant  which  day  by  day  with  the  aid 
of  human  genius  converts  ore  into  wealth.  Reluctant  to  give  up  her 
treasures,  nature  wages  a  constant  warfare  with  man,  calling  to  her 
aid  the  snows  and  ice  of  winter,  altitude,  precipice  and  ravine.  But 
man  won  the  fight.  Two  slender  wire  cables,  puny  in  appearance 
despite  their  strength,  span  ravine,  rise  over  precipice  and  scale  the 
heights,  disappearing  among  the  clouds.  With  their  aid  man  has 
encompassed  the  defeat  of  nature.  Silently,  unpretentiously,  dis- 
dainfully ignoring  the  grumbling  of  nature  over  her  defeat  and  her 
efforts  to  overthrow  the  work  of  man,  the  buckets  modestly  move  for- 
ward; they  are  the  connecting  links  between  mountain  and  valley; 
real  private  soldiers  of  the  miring  industry,  always  alert,  always  per- 
forming their  duty,  always  obeying  their  commands  and  rendering 
invaluable  service  in  adding  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation." 

Ladies  and  gentleman,  I  thank  you  for  your  courteous  attention. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  listen  to  a  fifteen  min- 
utes address  by  A.  H.  Elftman,  Ph.  P.,  of  Colorado,  on  "The  Gold  Ores 
of  San  Juan  County." 

THE  GOLDEN  SAN  JUAN. 
By  A.  H.  Elftman,  Ph.  D. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  our  delegation  from  Colorado  we  were  in- 
formed that  we  had  landed  in  the  richest  one  hundred  square  miles 
on  earth.  This  area  we  are  told  is  one  hundred  miles  square  and 
in  addition  the  Black  Hills  include  a  large  slice  of  the  state  of 
Wyoming. 

Coming  from  Colorado,  where  all  that  glitters  is  not  gold,  we  were 
somewhat  skeptical  in  believing  such  statements,  and  decided  to 
make  good  use  of  the  generous  offer  of  the  mine  managers  of  this 
section  and  inspect  the  mineral  resources  so  far  as  the  time  would 
allow. 

After  examining  a  large  number  of  prospects  in  the  southern 
Black  Hills  in  Custer  and  Pennington  counties  and  seeing  the  de- 
posits of  the  northern  Hills  on  the  surface  and  in  the  deep  workings 
of  the  Clover  Leaf,  Galena  District,  Golden  Crest,  Columbus.  Hidden 
Fortune,  Homestake,  Bald  Mountain,  Spearfish  and  others  and  then 
looking  at  the  large  probable  mineral  areas,  scarcely  prospected, 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  153 

we  cannot  be  other  than  strongly  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the 
Black  Hills  people  do  not  seem  to  realize  the  enormous  possibilities 
of  the  future  for  their  section.  Year  by  year  additional  gold  fac- 
tories will  be  erected  and  the  Black  Hills  section  is  bound  to  become 
cne  of  the  most  important  manufacturing  centers  of  the  world.  Its 
product  will  never  be  a  drug  on  the  market  and  its  value  will  continue 
at  $20.67  an  ounce  for  several  generations  at  least. 

In  Colorado,  gold  is  mined  and  not  manufactured.  The  state 
is  so  far  developed  tbat  the  arithmetic  taught  in  our  schools  neglects 
imagination  and  multiplication  but  emphasizes  dividends  and  extrac- 
tion. When  we  hear  of  one  hundred  square  miles,  instead  of  squaring 
it  we  prefer  to  extract  the  square  root  and  then  compare  the  size 
with  a  district  which  in  an  area  of  fifteen  square  miles  in  less  than 
one  half  the  time  has  produced  more  gold  than  the  Black  Hills  and 
which  is  now  annually  producing  nearly  double  the  annual  output  of 
the  Black  Hills.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  area  is  on  earth  but 
it  is  sometimes  called  Cripple  Creek. 

Let  us  take  our  genial  host,  the  Black  Hills  mining  man,  to  the 
top  of  Pike's  Peak.  Looking  to  the  north  and  west  we  see  three 
other  massive  peaks  rising  over  14,000  feet  above  the  sea.  Mt.  Prince- 
ton, Mount  of  the  Holy  Cross,  and  Long's  Peak.  These  form  the  "bear- 
ing trees"  for  the  corner  stakes  of  Colorado's  mining  claim,  "one 
hundred  miles  square  No.  1."  On  this  claim  several  discovery  cuts 
Eave  been  dug:  among  them  we  see  Cripple  Creek,  Clear  Creek,  Gil- 
pin,  Boulder,  Leadvil?e,  Aspen  and  others,  which  during  1902  pro- 
duced $22,000,000  in  gold  and  $13,000,000  in  silver,  lead,  copper,  zinc 
and  other  mineral  products.  During  the  last  thirty  years  this  claim 
has  produced  about  $600,000,000  in  mineral  values,  or  six  times  as 
much  as  the  Black  HHls.  What  Colorado's  claim  No.  1  will  do  when 
developed  is  beyond  fhe  imagination  even  of  the  mining  promoter. 

Turning  to  the  south  and  west  as  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun 
climb  the  Sangre  de  Oristos  and  dance  from  the  silver  lined  clouds 
to  summits  of  Uncompahgre,  Sneffles,  Wilson  anc1  the  Needles,  we 
have  before  us  in  rega!  splendor  Colorado's  claim  "one  hundred  miles 
square  No.  2,"  the  Golden  San  Juan,  home  of  the  tunnel,  the  aerial 
tramway  and  the  concentrator. 

Taking  red  mountain  as  a  center,  a  circle  with  a  ten  mile  radius 
will  include  most  of  the  producing  mines  of  Ouray,  San  Miguel  and 
San  Juan  counties.  Prominent  among  the  mines  are  the  Camp  Bird, 
Virginus,  Revenue,  Smuggler-Union,  Tomboy,  Ears'ow,  Yankee  Girl, 
Guston,  Silver  Ledge,  Hennrietta,  Gold  King,  Sunny  Side,  Esmeraldo, 
Silver  Lake,  Highland  Mary,  North  Star  and  others.  Between  these 
are  numerous  prospects,  the  development  of  which  was  begun  during 
the  last  three  years  and  many  of  which  are  now  nearing  completion 
of  the  dead  work  and  will  soon  enter  the  list  of  producers.  This 
prospect  work  has  been  especially  active  in  San  Juan  county. 

The  San  Juan  district,  embracing  the  southwest  portion  of  the 
state,  produced  in  1902.  22  per  cent  of  the  output  of  Colorado  This 
area  produced  $5,490,000  in  gold  and  about  the  same  value  in  other 
metals.  During  thirty  years  this  area  has  produced  $200,000.000. 

One  half  of  all  the  copper  produced  in  Colorado  came  frolm  this 
district.  Its  gold  vr.lue  was  three  times  the  value  of  its  silver.  It 
paid  26  per  cent  of  its  production  as  dividends. 

The  ores  of  the  San  Juan  country  occur  principally  in  fissure 
veins  which  traverse  the  country  in  well  defined  systems  traceable 
often  for  distances  of  five  miles  or  more.  The  veins  are  well  mineral- 
ized and  at  frequent  intervals  form  large  ore  shoots.  The  veins  vary 
in  width  from  one  foot  to  two  hundred  feet.  Ore  bodies  twenty-five 
to  fifty  feet  wide  are  of  common  occurrance.  The  ore  shoots  are  fre- 
quently 1,000  to  1,500  feet  long. 

Generally  speaking  the  ores  of  the  San  Juan  country  are  milling 
ores.  The  ores  which  are  or  have  been  worked  vary  in  value  from  a 
probable  minimum  of  $6  to  several  thousand  dollars  per  ton.  A  few 
illustrations  will  not  prove  out  of  place.  The  ore  from  the  Camp  Bird 


154  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

is  all  milled  and  runs  from  $40  to  $200  per  ton.  The  Tom  Boy  ore 
runs  from  $7  to  $20  per  ton.  The  Gold  King  ore  averaged  over  $25.00 
per  ton  in  1902  and  this  will  be  materially  increased  during  the  present 
year.  The  Sunny  Side  ore  last  j'ear  averaged  $35  per  ton.  Silver 
Lake  ore  varies  from  $8  to  $70  per  ton. 

The  cost  of  mining  and  milling  the  ore  varies  from  $4  to  $7  per 
ton.  The  mining  is  principally  carried  on  by  tapping  the  ore  bodies 
at  depths  of  1,000  feet  or  more  by  tunnels.  The  ore  is  then  trans- 
ported to  the  concentrators  by  aerial  tramways. 

In  milling,  the  ore  is  crushed  by  drop  stamps  or  rolls,  then  passed 
over  copper  plates  to  the  concentrators.  About  one-third  of  the 
values  are  saved  by  amalgamation,  the  balances  being  saved  as  con- 
centrates which  are  shipped  to  the  smelters.  The  tailings  run  from 
$2  to  $5  per  ton.  The  cyanide  process  is  being  applied  to  these  tailings 
with  satisfactory  results. 

I  have  only  attempted  to  call  your  attention  to  the  existence  of 
the  San  Juan  country.  In  many  ways  the  size  of  the  ore  bodies  and 
the  original  mineralization  are  the  same  as  those  found  in  the  Black 
Hills.  While  the  San  Juan  country  has  always  been  looked  upon  as 
a  silver  camp  it  is,  however,  a  unique  fact  that  the  deeper  the  mines 
go,  the  proportion  of  the  gold  value  increasing  and  free  gold  becomes 
more  abundant. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  listen  to  an  address  by 
Mr.  C.  O.  Bartlett,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  the  subject  "Mechanical 
Drying  of  Minerals." 

While  the  mountains  of  cur  country  are  rich  in  deposits  of  gold, 
silver  and  other  precious  minerals,  while  zinc  ^nd  lead  are  found  in 
many  of  our  rich  prairie  sections,  as  well  as  in  the  mountains,  and 
coal  and  oil  in  nearly  every  section,  all  of  which  have  been  and  are 
now  being  searched  lor  in  every  nook  and  crook,  by  an  army  of  the 
ablest  men  on  the  face  of  God's  green  earth,  yet  these  very  places 
in  many  instances,  rich  in  deposits  of  the  finest  kinds  of  clays,  suit- 
able for  the  very  best  quality  of  fire  brick  and  sewer  pipe,  crockery 
ware,  paints,  and  Portland  cement.  Beds  of  the  finest  quality  of 
fuller's  earth,  marl  chalk,  travertin,  graphite,  and  mica;  and  miles 
of  peat  in  nearly  every  state  from  Maine  to  California,  waiting  to  be 
made  into  the  very  finest  kind  of  fuel  for  almost  any  purpose,  yet  very 
little  attention  has  been  given  these  so  called  common  stuffs  by  these 
energetic  and  capable  engineers. 

All  of  these  minerals  are  rapidly  coming  into  general  use,  and  will 
very  soon  command  the  best  brains  of  our  country,  in  fact  the  time 
is  right  here  now. 

Ten  years  ago  the  manufacture  of  Portland  cement  in  this  country 
was  almost  unknown,  and  we  were  paying  exhorbitant  prices  for  Eng- 
lish and  German  brands.  Then  our  engineers  began  to  investigate,  to 
dig  and  bore,  and  almost  immediately  found  the  finest  quality  of 
clays,  marls,  limestones  and  chalk,  just  suited  for  making  Portland 
cement.  In  Ohio,  in  Indiana,  and  in  the  swamps  of  Michigan,  in  the 
Lehigh  Valley,  Pa.,  in  New  York,  on  the  Hudson  River,  within  tide 
water,  in  Illinois,  and  Missouri,  within  a  few  miles  of  Chicago  and 
St.  Louis,  in  Arkansas,  Colorado,  Montana,  California,  and  in 
many  other  places,  were  found  plenty  of  the  finest  kind  of  material 
for  making  Portland  cement.  Capitalists  were  ready  to  put  dollars 
into  the  business,  and  the  result  has  been  that  last  year  more  than 
fifteen  millions  of  barrels  of  the  finest  qualitv  of  Portland  cement 
were  manufactured  in  our  country,  and  of  a  better  quality  than  could 
be  produced  in  England  or  Germany,  in  fact  this  might  almost  be 
called  the  Cement  Age.  Whole  buildings  are  being  made  of  it,  at 
three-fourths  the  cost  of  brick,  and  many  railroads  are  using  it  in 
their  culverts  and  bridge  work,  and  foundations  are  using  $1.50  com- 
mon labor,  instead  of  $4  and  $5  expert  labor. 

To  work  these  clays,  limestones,  etc.  into  cement  it  was  found 
necessary  to  dry  them;  it  would  not  do  to  guess  at  the  amount  of 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  155 

moisture  in  limestone  or  in  clay,  the  mixture  must  be  exact,  no  guess- 
ing could  be  allowed.  One  per  cent  too  much  or  too  little  of  this  or 
that  product  would  spoil  the  cement.  Clay  varies  in  moisutre  from  10 
to  25  per  cent,  limestone  from  6  to  12  per  cent,  hence  the  actual  ne- 
cessity for  some  kind  of  mechanical  dryers.  As  it  is  with  clays  for 
Portland  cement,  so  it  is  with  clays  for  paints.  I  know  of  a  certain 
so  called  clay  near  Bedford,  W.  Va.,  so  rich  in  iron  and  aluminum 
that  by  simply  drying  and  calcining,  in  other  words,  burning  out  the 
vegetable  matter,  leaving  iron,  aluminum  and  sileca,  and  afterwards 
mixing  in  oil,  it  makes  the  finest  kind  of  paint,  and  so  rich  alumi- 
num is  this  particular  product  that  a  pine  board  painted  with  one 
coat  will  stand  an  excessive  heat  for  some  time  without  burning 
the  wood,  in  fact  it  seems  to  be  better  than  the  purest  kind  of  graphite. 

I  have  seen  so  called  clay  paint,  in  Madison  county,  Montana,  so 
rich  in  aluminum  and  iron  that  by  simply  drying,  pulverizing  and 
mixing  with  oil,  that  it  has  stood  a  severe  weather  test  for  years, 
in  fact  it  seemed  to  be  as  good  as  the  metallic  paint,  made  from  the 
best  Lake  Superior  iron  ore. 

There  are  three  ways  to  mechanically  dry  minerals: 

1st.  By  direct  heat;  by  this  is  generally  meant  the  use  of  the 
Rotary  Dryer,  or  a  horizontal  cylinder,  set  in  brick-work,  with  front 
and  grates,  similar  to  a  horizontal  boiler.  The  cylinder  is  set  on  an 
incline,  and  revolves  very  slowly,  from  five  to  eight  revolutions  a  min- 
ute. The  material  to  be  dried  is  fed  into  the  cylinder  at  the  front 
end  and  at  each  revolution  of  the  cylinder  is  carried  forward  toward 
the  discharge  end  of  the  dryer,  being  continually  picked  up  by  the 
inter  elevators,  and  cascaded  while  passing  through  the  cylinder. 

2nd.  By  heated  air,  which  has  first  been  heated,  either  by  direct 
heat  or  by  steam  pipes,  and  afterwards  passed  through,  the  material 
to  be  dried. 

3rd.  By  steam  hf.at  direct;  by  bringing  the  material  to  be  dried 
in  direct  contact  with  the  steam  cylinder  pipes. 

The  first  method  is  by  far  the  cheapest,  for  the  reason  that  by 
using  direct  heat  a  temperature  of  2500  to  3000  degrees  can  be  had, 
while  by  using  heated  air  the  temperature  is  very  much  less,  and  by 
using  direct  steam  heat,  the  temperature  is  only  from  230  to  330  de- 
grees, according  to  the  amount  of  steam  pressure,  and  this  tempera- 
ture is  on  the  inside  of  the  pipes  or  cylinder,  which  means  consider- 
able less  temperature  on  the  outside,  where  the  material  is.  By  first 
superheating  the  steam  the  temperature  can  be  made  much  higher, 
but  the  cost  of  superheating  the  steam  will  nearly  or  quite  counter- 
balance all  gain  in  temperature. 

Great  care  should  be  taken  in  the  construction  and  erection  of  all 
direct  heat  dryers,  otherwise  no  end  of  trouble  will  be  had;  all  iron 
parts  should  be  so  constructed  as  to  allow  for  contraction  and  ex- 
pansion, otherwise  they  will  soon  break.  All  settings  and  bearings  for 
the  dryer  should  be  extremely  substantial,  on  iccount  of  the  liabilitv 
to  get  out  of  place  by  the  settling  of  the  brick-work  and  by  the  ex- 
treme heat. 

The  steel  sheets  of  the  cylinder  should  be  of  the  entire  length, 
and  all  seams  should  run  to  the  longitudinal  way  of  the  cylinder. 
There  should  be  no  cross  seams  at  all,  for  they  ?re  liable  to  break. 

In  building  steam  dryers  great  care  must  be  taken  with  every 
joint  or  rivet,  otherwise  the  contraction  and  expansion  will  soon 
cause  the  joints  and  rivets  to  leak. 

In  drying  any  and  all  kinds  of  minerals  they  should  first  be 
broken  or  crushed  into  two  inch  cubes  or  less,  as  it  does  not  pay  to 
dry  large  pieces  of  anything — so  let  it  be  understood  that  all  ma- 
terial is  supposed  to  have  been  crushed  before  entering  the  dryer. 

It  is  difficult  to  dry  anything  in  a  body;  it  is  necessary  to  have 
as  large  heating  surface  as  possible,  and  to  keep  the  material  being 


156  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

dried  constantly  in  motion,  cascading  through  ^e  heat  and  dropping 
on  other  hot  surfaces,  so  that  the  heat  can  easily  penetrate  through 
a  thin  body  of  material,  carrying  off  the  moisture. 

The  cost  of  drying  minerals  depends,  first,  upon  the  amount  of 
water  or  moisture  contained  therein.  In  other  words,  concentrates, 
ores,  or  silica  substances  will  not  carry  more  than  10  to  12  per  cent 
moisture,  while  clays  and  -marls  will  carry  two  or  thfee  times  as  much, 
and  peat  will  sometimes  have  as  much  as  80  per  cent  moisture.  It 
is  generally  safe  to  estimate  on  evaporating  10  pounds  of  water  for 
one  pound  of  coal  used,  or  its  equivalent,  when  drying  concentrates, 
ores,  limestones  and  other  similar  products,  where  the  products  of 
the  fire  can  pass  through  the  material  to  be  dried:  therefore,  it  will 
be  readily  seen  that  it  will  not  pay  to  dry  any  kind  of  material  con- 
taining 80  per  cent  moisture,  unless  it  be  very  valuable.  It  can  be 
dried,  but  the  cost  of  doing  it  will  be  more  than  the  finished  product 
is  worth. 

To  illustrate:  We  wish  to  dry  peat — we  start  with  100  tons  of 
peat,  containing  80  per  cent  moisture,  and  reduce  to  5  per  cent,  which 
.means  to  evaporate  75  tons  of  water,  leaving  25  tons  of  dried  peat. 
It  will  take  one  pound  of  coal,  or  its  equivalent  for  fuel,  to  evaporate 
10  pounds  of  moisture,  which  means  no  less  than  15,000  pounds  of 
coal  for  fuel  to  dry  the  100  tons  of  peat,  and  it  is  difficult  in  drying 
peat  to  evaporate  10  pounds  of  moisture  with  one  pound  of  coal, 
or  its  equivalent  used,  for  the  reason  that  after  it  is  nearly  dry  it 
becomes  somewhat  combustible  and  is  liable  to  burn,  consequently  it 
requires  slow  firing,  otherwise  you  will  burn  it  up. 

I  wish  to  speak  particularly  about  peat,  for  the  reason  that  there 
are  a  lot  of  learned  fellows  who  honestly  believe  that  it  is  an  easy 
matter  to  dry  two  or  three  hundred  tons  of  peat  a  day,  that  by  some 
peculiar  system  and  manner  it  can  be  dried  very  cheaply,  and  I  wish 
to  say  to  all  such  that  they  had  better  go  slow,  for  it  is  much  easier 
to  say  than  to  do.  You  might  far  better  store  the  peat  in  large  sheds, 
or  even  out  of  doors,  where  it  will  drain  and  dry  by  the  winds  and 
sun  down  to  40  per  cent  moisture,  after  which  it  can  be  profitably 
dried  on  mechanical  dryers. 

It  is  quite  a  different  matter  to  dry  100  tons  pf  concentrates,  ores, 
or  silica  substances,  lor  here  we  have  only  from  8  to  12  per  cent 
moisture,  which  we  wish  to  reduce  to  2  per  cent  or  which  means 
about  six  or  seven  tons  of  moisture,  requiring  about  1500  pound?  of 
coal,  or  its  equivalent,  to  dry  it,  which  is  really  a  very  small  factor, 
find  as  the  freight  rates  are  frequently  very  high,  especially  in  the 
mountain  regions,  it  v  ill  pay  to  dry  out  the  moisture  before  shipping. 
In  other  words,  it  does  not  pay  to  ship  water  in  ores  and  concentrates 
if  the  cost  of  drying  them  is  less  than  the  cost  of  freight. 

The  second  important  matter  as  to  the  cost  of  drying  minerals  is 
whether  the  minerals  to  be  dried  will  admit  of  passing  the  products 
of  the  fire  through  the  minerals  or  not  without  injury.  In  other 
words,  it  will  be  readiJy  seen  that  better  results  can  be  obtained  from 
the  same  amount  of  fuel  by  first  passing  the  heat  around  the  out- 
side of  the  drying  cylinders,  then  through  the  material.  By  this 
means,  the  temperature  of  the  gases  passing  off,  the  dryer  can  be 
brought  down  to  125  degrees  Fahrenheit,  which  of  course  means  that 
nearly  the  entire  heat  of  the  coal,  or  its  equivalent  it  utilized,  but 
if  used  on  the  outside  of  the  drying  cylinder  only,  not  quite  so  gocd 
results  can  be  obtained. 

Most  minerals,  such  as  concentrates,  ores,  and  clays,  are  not 
injured,  by  passing  the  products  of  combustion  through  them.  Some 
fine  clays  and  even  some  kinds  of  sand,  used  for  glassware,  will  not 
admit  of  it,  on  account  of  the  danger  of  coloration  by  the  fire  products. 
In  all  such  cases  it  is  necessary  to  use  oil  or  gas  for  fuel,  or  to  keep 
the  products  of  combustion  on  the  outside  only. 

The  third  important  feature  is,  whether  the  material  to  be  dried 
is  of  silica  or  clay  nature.  If  it  is  of  a  silica  nature,  the  moisture  is 
easily  given  off,  if  of  a  clay  nature,  it  will  be  more  difficult  to  evapor- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  157 

ate  the  moisture,  besides  the  sticky  material  is  liable  to  adhere  to 
the  parts  of  the  dryer,  causing  trouble,  and  consequently  is  more 
expensive  to  dry.  It  is  seldom,  however,  that  anything  will  stick  to 
a  heated  surface. 

The  next,  or  fourth  feature  as  to  the  cost  of  drying,  is  whether 
the  material  is  of  an  explosive  nature,  or  whether  there  is  danger  of 
burning,  such  as  coal,  peat  and  similar  materials.  If  so,  the  heat 
must  be  of  a  low  degree.  There  is  no  danger  of  burning  anything, 
when  it  contains  a  considerable  amount  of  moisture,  and  finishing  on 
another  dryer  with  light  firing. 

The  fifth  feature,  regarding  cost  of  drying,  is  whether  it  be  neces- 
sary to  dry  down  to  a  very  low  degree  of  moisture,  in  other  words  ft 
is  much  harder  and  more  expensive,  to  dry  down  to  one-half  per  cent, 
than  to  two  per  cent.  Generally  speaking,  however,  it  is  not  necessary 
to  go  below  from  two  to  five  per  cent,  on  most  materials. 

DRYING    COAL. 

Coal  is  one  of  the  most  peculiar  and  interesting  of  all  the  mater- 
ials that  we  have  to  dry.  With  some  materials,  it  is  simply  to  drfve 
off  the  moisture,  in  others,  to  drive  off  the  moisture  and  not  injure 
the  color,  while  with  coal,  the  object  is  to  drive  off  the  moisture,  and 
preserve  the  gases,  also  the  fine  particles,  which  are  the  most  val- 
uable parts  of  the  coal. 

The  use  of  the  Rotary  Kilns,  for  roasting  ores  and  far  burning 
Portland  cement,  has  of  late  years  increased  very  rapidly,  and  the  use 
cf  powdered  coal  in  annealing  furnaces,  and  also  the  use  of  coal,  in 
a  pulverized  state,  under  boilers  has  caused  a  rapidly  increased 
demand  for  pulverized  coal.  From  observations  taken  during 
the  last  year,  I  fully  believe  that  in  all  large  and  medium  sized  plants, 
the  power  will  be  supplied  with  coal  dust,  burned  similar  to  gas.  I 
feel  sure  that  this  is  the  only  way  to  get  perfect  combustion,  and  that 
a  very  large  saving  can  be  made  by  using  coal  dust.  This  branch  of 
the  subject,  however,  it  distinct  by  itself  and  cannot  be  treated  in  this 
paper. 

Coal,  to  be  satisfactorily  and  economically  pulverized,  should  first 
be  thoroughly  dry.  To  get  the  best  results  from  grinding  machinery, 
there  should  not  be  more  than  one  per  cent  moisture  in  the  coal. 
The  grinding  capacity  of  mills  is  nearly  double  on  coal  of  one  per  cent, 
moisture  to  what  it  is  with  .moisture  of  two  per  cent.  There  can  be 
no  set  rule  to  be  followed  in  drying  coal,  as  it  is  rarely  that  we  find 
two  lots  of  coal  which  will  dry  alike.  Some  coal  will  give  up  its 
moisture  easily  and  freely,  and  other  grades  will  apparently  grow 
wetter  as  they  grow  hotter.  Within  the  past  six  months  we  have  been 
called  upon  to  dry  in  one  dryer,  coal  from  which  we  could  remove 
eight  per  cent,  moisture  at  the  rate  of  15  tons  per  hour,  and  other 
coal  from  which  it  was  impossible  to  remove  mare  than  six  per  cent, 
at  the  rate  of  8  tons  per  hour.  We  have  seen  coal  which  has  lain 
under  cover  for  two  months,  develop  from  six  per  cent,  to  eight  per 
cent,  moisture  on  being  heated,  and  put  into  the  storage  bins,  and 
have  seen  water  run  in  a  stream  from  the  hopper. 

From  the  best  determinations  we  have  been  able  to  make,  it  seems 
that  coal  in  which  the  ash  is  composed  largely  of  silica,  will  give 
up  its  moisture  easily  and  thoroughly,  while  that  in  which  the  asfc 
is  high  in  lime  or  clay,  is  very  difficult  to  dry,  and  the  moisture  really 
has  to  be  sweated  out. 

It  is  very  important  that  coal  be  handled  in  such  a  way,  that  warm 
air  in  large  quantities,  can  be  brought  in  contact  with  every  particle 
of  it,  and  can  be  made  to  absorb  the  moisture,  and  carry  it  off  as  fast 
as  it  is  released.  This  is  best  accomplished  by  passing  the  currents 
of  air  from  the  dried  material,  through  that  which  is  wet.  Further- 
more, the  currents  of  air  should  be  subject  to  regulation,  in  order  that 
the  heat  will  not  become  so  intense  as  to  release  any  of  the  volatile 
matter. 


158  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

There  is  no  question,  but  what  there  is  always  a  certain  amount 
of  risk  in  handling  coal,  both  in  drying  and  pulverizing,  but  this  can 
be  reduced  to  a  minimum  by  using  the  proper  precautions.  The  first 
and  greatest  precaution,  is  not  to  get  the  idea  that  "Any  Old  Thing" 
is  good  enough  to  dry  coal.  One  notable  experiment  of  this  kind,  in 
the  east,  during  the  last  year,  cost  the  lives  of  seven  men,  besides  a 
large  loss  of  property.  Another  point:  Do  not  use  a  dryer  in  which 
particles  can  get  caught,  for  they  are  liable  to  ignite,  if  held  in  con- 
tact with  a  heated  surface  for  any  length  of  time.  Do  not  use  a  dryer, 
whose  rated  capacity  is  just  enough  to  supply  your  needs.  Better 
with  this,  as  with  all  other  machinery,  to  have  it  large  enough  to  be 
able  to  do  a  little  more,  than  to  be  obliged  to  force  things  on  regular 
work. 

Still  another  point:  It  is  never  safe  to  pass  the  products  of  com- 
bustion through  the  drying  coal.  With  some  coal  it  might  be  done, 
and  in  fact  has  been  done  with  coal  of  54  degrees  volatility.  It  is  best, 
however,  to  stay  on  the  safe  side,  and  not  sacrifice  safety  for  efficiency. 

It  is  generally  safe  to  estimate  on  evaporating  from  six  to  eight 
pounds  of  moisture  to  one  pound  of  coal,  or  its  equivalent  used  for 
fuel. 

I  have  heard  of  evaporating  as  high  as  12  pounds  of  moisture  with 
one  pound  of  coal,  but  I  have  the  best  of  reasons  to  doubt  it. 

It  is  difficult  to  tell  at  just  what  temperature,  coal  will  begin  to 
give  off  gas,  and  indeed_this  point  varies  with  different  coal,  but  it  is 
generally  safe  to  say  th~at  it  can  be  delivered  from  the  dryer  at  about 
150  degrees  Fahrenheit  without  losa  of  gas.  We  have  been  asked  to 
discharge  at  225  degrees  and  have  found  that  this  can  be  done  but  not 
without  loss  of  a  small  percentage  of  gas,  and  this  cannot  be  recom- 
mended as  good  practice. 

It  is  necessary  to  use  a  Ian-blast  to  get  sufficient  air,  to  carry 
off  the  moisture,  and  this  will  carry  the  dust  produced  by  crushing 
with  it.  This  dust  amounts  to  from  3  to  5  per  cent  of  the  total  amount, 
and  is  worth  saving.  This  is  accomplished  by  placing  the  fan-blast 
above  the  receiving  hopper,  using  suction  on  the  cylinder  and  forcing 
the  dust  and  moisture  into  a  settling  chamber,  made  of  non-conduct- 
ing material,  preferably  brick.  The  wall  of  this  chamber  will  retain 
sufficient  heat  to  prevent  the  .moisture  from  condensing,  and  should 
be  large  enough  to  allow  thQ  dust  to  settle.  The  bottom  of  the  set- 
tling chamber  should  slant  at  least  45  degrees  to  the  center,  which 
will  cause  the  dust  to  slide  to  the  middle,  where  it  can  be  carried  off, 
either  by  screw  or  chain  conveyor. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  will  state  at  this  moment  that  Mr. 
Holmes,  who  was  to  address  you  this  evening,  said  that  he  would  not 
occupy  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  and  suggested  he  would  do 
that  in  the  morning.  I  told  him  I  thought  that  would  be  agreeable  to 
the  Congress  and  there  being;  no  other  papers  to  be  read,  there  will 
be  no  need  of  further  business  tonight. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Would  it  not  be  better 
to  have  Mr.  Dignowity's  paper  or  whatever  it  is  at  some  time  tomor- 
row, in  the  hope  that  we  might  have  more  suitable  weather  and  a 
chance  for  a  better  gathering? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Would  it  please  you,  Mr.  Dignowity, 
to  do  it  that  way? 

MR.  D1GNDWITY:     It  will  make  no  difference  to  me. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  Committee  on  Res- 
olutions has  further  reports  it  can  make  at  this  time  or  some  other 
time  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Congress. 

PRESIDENT   RICHARDS:     We  will  listen  to  the  report. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  159 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  resolution  introduced 
by  MT.  Drake,  of  Oregon,  upon  the  subject  of  the  acquisition  of  the 
Oregon  territory  and  the  exposition  in  Portland  in  1905  has  been 
adopted  by  the  committee  and  recommended  to  the  Congress  with 
the  exception  of  the  reference  in  that  resolution  to  the  holding  of  the 
American  Mining  Congress  in  Portland  or  in  the  vicinity  in  1905,  that 
we  have  eliminated,  deeming  it  best  to  leave  the  whole  subject  to  this 
Congress  to  be  determined  at  the  proper  time. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Drake,  of  Oregon,  and  seconded  by  Colonel 
George,  of  South  Dakota,  that  the  resolution,  as  amended,  be  adopted 
which  motion  was  carried. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  resolution  of  Mr. 
Bennett,  which  was  read  a  short  time  ago,  upon  the  subject  of  the 
exploitation  of  valueless  mining  stocks,  has  been  under  consideration 
by  the  committee,  and  the  committee  recommends  a  substitute  for  the 
resolution  offered.  It  is  as  follows: 

MR.  BENNETT:  The  substitute  is  perfectly  satisfactory  to  me 
and  I  move  its  adoption. 

The  adoption  was  duly  seconded  and  the  substitute  resolution 
was  adopted. 

MR.  DONALDSON,  OF  COLORADO:  I  move  you  that  by  rising 
vote  we  extend  our  thanks  to  those  who  have  given  us  papers  this 
afternoon. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  unanimously  carried  by  rising  vote. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Senator  Morgan,  of  Alabama,  in  an- 
swer to  the  invitation  of  the  Secretary,  wrote  a  letter  which  perhaps 
you  would  like  to  hear,  in  answer  to  the  invitation  and  the  Secretary 
will  read  that  portion  of  it  which  pertains  to  the  Congress,  with  your 
permission  for  a  moment.  The  letter  is  as  follows: 

Warm  Springs,  Virginia,  August  15,  1903. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary  of  the  American  Mining  Congress; 

Dear  Sir: — The  invitation,  extended  through  you  as  Secretary, 
to  attend  the  sixth  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Mining  Congress, 
on  the  7th  of  September,  is  very  highly  appreciated  and  would  be  glad- 
ly accepted  if  I  could  be  present. 

Other  public  duties  will,  however,  deprive  me  of  the  opportunity 
to  witness  the  proceedings  of  an  assemblage,  that  is  second  to  none 
of  the  movements  of  our  people,  in  their  efforts  to  promote  and 
secure  the  general  welfare. 

I  deeply  regret  that  I  must  forego  so  excellent  an  opportunity  to 
gain  the  knowledge  that  will  be  placed  in  reach  of,  even,  a  casual  ob- 
server on  that  occasion,  relating  to  mines,  metals  and  metallurgy 
which,  today,  are  far  more  important  to  our  country  than  they  have 
ever  been. 

The  subjects  that  are  included  in  the  field  of  research  and  the 
other  work  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  are  at  the  foundation 
of  every  important  industry,  and  are  at  the  beginning  of  all  real 
progress  in  civilization. 

The  minerals  and  metals  are  the  actual,  elementary  predicate  of 
all  useful  labors  in  all  the  economic  arts  and  they  are  the  indispen- 
sable agents,  instruments  and  facilities  of  all  practical  science. 

No  effort,  that  is  sincere  and  thoughtful,  in  the  study  and  manip- 
ulation of  minerals  and  metals,  can  ever  fail  to  benefit  mankind; 
because  each  failure  to  realize  their  best  uses  and  the  best  method 
of  treatment,  is  a  guide  that  points  the  inquirer  to  a  more  certain 
course  of  investigation,  until  the  best  results  are  finally  reached. 
Failure,  in  one  direction,  is  only  proof  that  success  lies  in  a  different 
direction. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  such  scientific  inquiry  to  develop  the  laws 
that  will  save  the  prospector,  the  miner  and  the  metallurgist,  the 


160  OFFICIAL.    PROCEEDINGS 

heavy  cost  and  the  disappointments  of  wasted  time,  labor  and  capital, 
which  are  so  frequently  met;  and  the  wastage  of  minerals  that,  once 
they  are  lost,  are  seldom  recovered.  For,  the  store  of  minerals  in 
land  and  water,  when  it  is  lessened,  from  any  cause,  is  not  capable 
of  being  replaced  by  all  the  art  and  wisdom  of  men. 

In  this  vast  field,  in  which  the  American  Mining  Congress  has 
assumed  a  work  that  is  so  important,  its  interests  and  its  present 
duty  are  more  conspicuous,  than  it  was  ever  before,  in  making  min- 
ing pursuits  of  permanent  value  to  all  who  are  engaged  in  such  indus- 
tries and  to  all  who  are  employed  in  all  other  industrial  enterprises. 

This  Congress,  in  our  free  and  very  great  country,  has  the  power 
to  perform  this  duty,  effectually,  through  the  guidance  it  can  give  fo 
scientific  research,  to  practical  demonstration,  and  to  the  government- 
al action  of  those  who,  as  representatives  of  the  people,  are  charged 
with  the  duties  of  legislation  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States', 
with  reference  to  gold  and  silver  in  their  capacity,  as  money. 

As  I  view  this  subject,  in  connection  with  the  industrial,  financial 
and  social  conditions  in  American  and,  more  particularly,  in  the 
United  States,  the  American  Mining  Congress  is  now  in  the  position 
to  secure  permanent  and  supreme  advantages  and  blessings  to  all 
classes  of  industrial  people,  in  all  the  vast  diversity  of  their  pursuits. 
The  power  to  which  I  refer,  is  that  imperial  and  autocratic  sway, 
and  social  conditions  in  America,  and,  more  particularly,  in  the 
future  by  gold  and  silver  in  controlling  men  and  nations.  They  are 
the  magnets  that  guide  the  voyages  of  all  the  ships  of  state,  and  will, 
forever  mark  their  courses. 

The  "drill"  and  the  "pick"  of  the  miner  resurrect  his  power  from 
the  deep  and  hidden  recesses  where  it  has  been  buried  by  the  hand 
of  the  Creator,  for  the  use  of  man,  and  set  apart  by  Divine  Wisdom  as 
an  essential  factor  in  his  dominion  over  all  other  creatures. 

These  carefully  stored  reserves  of  power  are  the  true,  vital  fac- 
tors in  all  the  social,  governmental,  moral  and  industrial  progress, 
that  is  included  in  true  civilization;  whose  march  would  come  to  a 
dead  halt,  in  the  absence  of  the  compelling  power  of  gold  and  silver 
money. 

There  are  no  potentates  so  powerful  in  their  sovereignty,  as 
money  coined  from  these  metals  and  none  who  caif  wear  this  dual 
crown  of  supremacy,  by  "divine  right,"  or  by  any  other  means  than 
the  drill  and  the  pick  of  the  miner. 

No  civilized  state  can  exist;  no  army  or  navy  can  be  formed  or 
moved;  no  civil  or  penal  code  can  be  enforced;  no  interchange  of 
commerce,  among  men,  or  nations,  can  be  conducted;  no  trade  con- 
tract can  be  legally  enforced;  no  schools,  or  churches  can  be  sup- 
ported without  the  use  of  one  or  both  of  these  metals. 

The  miners  toil  is,  therefore,  the  supremest  form  of  labor. 

These  two  metals,  that  are  almost  barren  of  practical  usefulness, 
for  the  supply  of  our  physical  wants,  are  placed  above  all  other 
things  in  estimated  value,  by  the  universal  consent  of  men  and  nations. 

It  was  so  in  the  beginning.  It  has  'continued  through  all  time, 
and  it  will  so  continue  to  the  end. 

The  unwritten  law  that  governs  all  the  world,  has  made  them  the 
supreme  ruling  powers  in  the  affairs  of  actual^ life,  and  in  all  gov- 
ernment, with  a  sovereign  power  that  no  autocrat  can  deny  or  success- 
fully resist. 

Whether  these  unchanging  conditions  are  fixed  and  proclaimed  in 
the  revealed  will  of  God,  or  whether  they  are  the  contrivances  of  men 
it  is,  perhaps,  needless  to  enquire;  but  it  is  certain  that  they  cannot 
be  changed  by  the  power  of  man,  so  as  to  destroy  the  precious  quality 
of  gold  and  silver  as  money  metals. 

It  is  their  quality,  as  money  metals,  that  is  indestructible  and 
precious.  They  possess  no  other  quality  that  is  even  important  to 
mankind. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  161 

No  nation  has  openly  attempted  to  destroy  this  precious  quality, 
of  either  of  these  metals,  and  none  will  ever  do  so,  effectually.  They 
will  outlive  all  opposition  and  'defy  destruction,  while  they  scorn  the 
neglect  of  nations. 

With  these  facts,  established  in  the  judgment  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  all  civilized  mankind,  in  all  ages,  it  seems  to  be  a  heresy 
against  the  order  of  nature,  to  attempt  to  deprive  either  gold  or  silver, 
of  its  precious  quality  as  a  money  metal. 

It  is  equally  disparaging  to  the  law  of  equal  personal  rights  ancl 
privileges,  accorded  to  all  men,  the  right  to  exist,  and  the  right  to 
the  pursuit  of  happiness,  that  •  we  should  so  legislate,  and  so  discrimi- 
nate, as  to  make  silver  the  cheaper  money  of  labor,  and  gold  the 
money  of  those  who  live  on  the  labor  of  others,  instead  of  living  by 
the  labor  of  their  own  hands. 

This  is  done,  when  the  coinage  laws  and  the  legal-tender  laws  dis- 
criminate against  silver,  as  a  money  metal,  or  as  a  legal-tender  for 
debts. 

Our  laws  make  these  discriminations,  by  refusing  equal  privi- 
leges to  silver,  in  the  coinage  of  money,  and  by  limiting  the  legaT- 
tender  power  of  silver  coins. 

Whatever  privileges  of  coinage  are  given  to  one  metal,  should  be 
given  to  the  other;  and  the  rule  should  be  the  same  and  not  different 
as  to  the  legal-tender  power  of  gold  and  silver  coins. 

It  is  the  constitutional  right  of  Congress  to  provide  for  the  coinage 
of  money,  and  to  regulate  its  value,  as  between  these  metals,  but  it 
is  not  within  the  constitutional  authority  to  destroy  the  value  of  either, 
by  its  legislation. 

Congress  can  fix  the  relative  value  of  the  coins  of  either  metal, 
according  to  weight  and  fineness,  but  when  the  coins  are  struck, 
Congress  cannot  change  the  value  of  a  gold  dollar,  or  a  silver  dollar, 
by  discriminating  between  them,  as  to  their  purchasing  power,  or 
debt  paying  power,  or  by  legal-tender  laws  that  lessen  either  coin 
below  the  value  stamped  on  its  face. 

We  make  these  discriminations  against  silver,  both  in  our  coin- 
age regulations  and  in  our  legal-tender  laws  and  we,  thereby,  discrim- 
inate against  silver  and  destroy  its  precious  quality  as  a  money  metal. 

We  do,  by  indirection,  what  no  nation  dares  to  do  by  open  and 
repressive  legislation,  at  the  peril  of  the  safety  of  its  government. 

A  law  to  punish  the  use  of  silver  money  in  trade,  as  a  crime, 
would  wreck  the  most  powerful  nation  in  the  world,  because  it  would 
starve  the  poorer  classes;  and  a  law  that  gives  to  gold  a  purchasing 
and  debt-paying  power,  that  it  refuses  to  silver,  would  destroy  any 
government,  but  for  the  fact  that  in  order  to  prevent  the  resentment  of 
the  people,  in  all  countries  where  such  discrimination  exists,  the  full 
legal-tender  power  of  silver  coin  is  conceded  to  them  as  to  the  smaller 
transactions  that  are  necessary  to  supply  the  poor  with  bread,  raiment 
and  shelter.  Their  daily  necessities  do  not  mount  up  to  the  forbidden 
line,  above  which,  gold  is  a  legal-tender,  and  silver  is  not.  Having 
no  hope  of  rising  into  the  upper  atmosphere  where  the  holders  of 
accumulated  wealth  enjoy  dominion,  they  prefer  humility  and  peace. 

The  people  are  thus  classified  by  law,  according  to  wealth.  They 
do  not  rebel  because  they  despair  of  becoming  rich,  and  are  content 
to  live  on  a  moderate  share  of  food,  raiment  and  shelter,  which  they 
have  no  real  power  to  increase. 

These  conditions  are  inimical  to  silver,  as  a  money  metal,  and 
they  violate  the  natural  and  economical  laws,  that  have  always  assist- 
ed, most  effectively,  in  the  civilization  of  the  world. 

For  the  justification  of  such  a  policy,  we  must  impeach  the  Divine 
Wisdom  that  created  two  precious  money  metals  for  the  use  of  man- 
kind, when  one  of  them  would  have  answered  all  the  uses  of  botfi, 
according  to  our  feeble  conceptions  of  omniscience. 

With  equal  presumption,  we  could,  as  well  impeach  the  wisdom  of 
creating  many  cereals  to  provide  bread  for  mankind — such  as  wheat, 


162  OFFICIAL,    PROCEEDINGS 

corn  and  rice — when  either  of  them  could  have  been  made  to  supply 
necessary  food  for  man  and  beast. 

A  short  supply  of  either  precious  metal,  at  once  increases  the 
value  of  the  other,  to  meet  the  deficiency;  and  a  full  supply  of  both, 
is  never  excessive,  but  only  adds  to  the  volume  of  the  world's  trade, 
the  discovery  and  production  of  new  and  desirable  articles  of  com- 
merce, which  absorb  the  apparent  -redundance  of  money  and  add  to 
the  comfort  and  elevation  of  mankind,  by  providing  additional  methods 
of  replenishing  the  earth,  so  as  to  multiply  its  population. 

The  miner's  "pick"  and  "drill,"  which  are  the  real  producers  of 
gold  and  silver,  in  the  hands  of  the  laborer,  are  too  slow  and  toilsome 
to  be  resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  inflating  the  supply  of  gold  and 
silver  coin  and  they  cannot  cause  such  inflation,  even  in  countries 
that  are  as  thinly  populated  as  the  Transvaal  or  Australia  or  Alaska, 
where  the  production  of  gold  is  so  disproportionate  to  the  local 
demand. 

The  danger  of  the  inflation  of  gold  and  silver  is  an  argument  that 
has  no  support  in  the  experience  of  mankind.  There  is  as  much 
danger  of  piling  up  the  waters  of  the  oceans,  in  permanent  mountain 
ridges,  as  there  is  of  making  gold  and  silver  accumulate  in  any  country 
where  they  are  not  needed  to  supply  the  wants  of  trade  and 
civilization. 

The  highest  wisdom  of  men  and  of  nations  is  to  leave  the  laws 
of  nature  undisturbed,  and  to  make  the  best  use  of  things  that  are 
provided  by  the  Creator  to  promote  and  secure  man's  dominion  of  tire 
earth;  and  the  worst  folly,  is  to  destroy  or  cast  aside  what  has  been 
given  us  for  any  useful  purpose. 

In  the  American  sense,  this  sort  of  folly  is  not  only  suicidal,  but 
it  is  craven,  when  it  disparages  silver  as  a  money  metal,  because, 
while  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  has,  possibly,  the  lead  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere,  in  gold  producing  areas;  the  Western  Hemisphere  is,  in 
fact,  almost  the  exclusive  depository  of  silver  ores. 

The  rights  of  silver  as  a  money  metal  are,  therefore,  the  especial 
care  and  charge  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  within  the  purview 
of  their  noble  task. 

If  legislative  favoritism  should  be  shown  to  any  class,  fn  respect 
of  gold  or  silver,  the  miner  should  have  the  preference;  because  he 
produces  the  precious  metals  that  drive  the  machinery  and  strengthen 
the  arms  of  all  industry. 

When  the  miner  puts  a  dollar  in  circulation  its  work  never  ceases, 
and  the  good  it  accomplishes  is  limited  to  no  class  or  condition  of 
people;  while  the  covetous  hoarder  of  wealth,  who  demands  the 
assistance  of  unjust  laws  .to  satisfy  his  greed,  produces  nothing  but 
discord  and  oppression,  through  the  unnatural  war  between  gold  and 
silver,  which  he  provokes. 

He  cares  not  whether  gold  or  silver  wins,  so  that  he  has  a  share 
in  looting  the  camp  of  the  defeated  combatant. 

Such  unjust  contentions  necessarily  establish  lines  of  clearage 
between  the  richer  and  the  poorer  classes,  or  between  the  wise  and  the 
ignorant,  in  "business  methods,"  (as  is  sometimes  contended)  that 
divide  the  people  into  warring  classes,  such  as  are  now  demarking  the 
line  of  a  social  gulf,  that  is  as  deep  and  as  wide  as  the  gulf  whicTK 
separated  Dives  from  Lazarus. 

These  laws  should  be  changed  and  the  peace  and  friendship 
between  gold  and  silver  should  be  restored  to  the  condition  that 
existed  during  the  first  half  century  of  our  national  life. 

As  our  system  of  finance  is  now  regulated  by  law.  if  a  laborer  does 
a  days  work,  to  be  paid  in  coin;  when  his  wage  is  due,  he  must  accept 
it  in  silver  coin,  because  the  coinage  of  gold  dollars  is  abolished. 

If  he  thus  accumulates  fifty  dollars,  to  pay  a  debt,  or  to  support 
a  family  beyond  the  seas,  he  must  change  the  money  into  gold  coin,  or 
he  must  purchase  exchange.  In  either  case  he  is  at  the  mercy  of  the 
bankers  or  brokers  who  deal  in  money  as  a  commodity  of  commerce. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  163 

The  losses  and  disadvantages  that  are  imposed  upon  the  poorer 
classes,  by  our  laws  that  discriminate  against  silver  as  to  coinage 
and  as  to  legal-tender  power,  appear  in  almost  every  transaction  tfi 
which  they  engage. 

They  are  too  numerous  for  recital,  and  far  too  obvious  for  denial 

We  cannot  change,  by  our  laws,  the  money  systems  of  foreign 
countries  and,  while  we  could  do  much  in  that  direction,  to  give 
strength  to  silver — the  American  metal — we  have  no  higher  duty  than 
to  take  care  of  our  people,  in  their  home  work,  by  securing  to  them 
all  the  benefits  of  the  silver  and  gold  that  are  so  richly  stored  in  OUT 
mines. 

To  do  this,  we  must  change  the  basis  of  our  present  system  oT 
finance  and  national  banking,  so  that  our  capital  shall  consist  of  gold 
and  silver,  actually  accumulated;  instead  of  resting  it  solely  upon  our 
national  credit,  based  on  the  power  of  taxation,  with  pledges  of  na- 
tional faith  to  provide  the  gold,  or  the  gold  and  silver,  to  redeem  our 
obligations,  on  demand,  or  when  they  shall  fall  due. 

We  must  change  our  currency  system  from  a  credit  basis  to  a 
specie  basis  of  national  banking,  if  we  would  make  it  just  to  all 
classes  and  independent  of  the  power  of  monopolistic  combines. 

Our  system  of  banking  is  constitutional,  and  it  is  convenient  and 
secure,  in  that  it  provides  for  a  reliable  currency,  but  its  foundation 
is  not  money,  or  bullion,  but  credit,  wherein  it  is  greatly  defective 
This  credit  depends  upon  our  power  to  redeem  our  promises  in  coin, 
to  be  hereafter  borrowed,  or  collected  under  laws  of  taxation.  This 
system  is  false  and  unjust  to  the  living,  and  is  still  more  unjust  to 
our  posterity. 

It  is  not  our  own  credit  that  we  pledge  to  meet  these  engagements 
so  much  as  it  is  the  credit  of  our  posterity.  If  the  system  Is  to  be  per- 
petual, we  fasten  upon  our  posterity  a  burden  from  whlcn  they  can- 
not escape.  This  burden  is  simply  the  perpetual  and  exclusive  right 
to  measure  out  to  all  coming  generations  the  volume  of  paper  money 
they  shall  be  permitted  to  use  in  their  business  and,  unavoidably, 
the  power  to  inflate  or  contract  that  currency  as  the  bankers  may 
choose.  This  power  to  create  first  money  is  thus  assumed  by  con- 
gress, in  violation  of  the  constitution. 

Our  national  banking  system  was  instituted  to  build  up  the  na- 
tional credit,  by  the  employment  of  the  credit  of  private  persons  at 
a  time  when  our  national  obligations  were  nearly  50  per  cent  below 
par,  in  consequence  of  civil  war. 

The  national  credit,  we  have  thus  seen,  is  liable  to  very  heavy 
depression  under  political  troubles.  It  is  not  safe  to  assume  that 
financial  depression  can  never  again  occur.  If  sucn  depression  should 
occur,  they  will  bankrupt  the  people,  by  dragging  down  the  whole 
volume  of  national  bank  circulation  to  the  extent  that  the  national 
credit  is  depressed. 

We  want  a  currency  that  will  withstand  all  such  emergencies, 
and  such  currency  can  only  be  had  by  founding  it  upon  a  specie 
basis  and  keeping  that  basis  secure. 

All  our  actual  currency,  which  is  handled  by  our  people  in  their 
daily  business,  is  in  paper  promises,  except  silver  coins,  and  an  in- 
considerable quantity  of  gold  coins,  and  it  will  never  be  otherwise. 

Bank  issues  and  checks  against  deposits  in  the  banks  comprise 
nearly  the  entire  volume  of  our  money  in  circulation.  There  is  no 
prospect  of  an  entire  change  of  our  actual  currency  from  paper  money 
to  coins,  because  there  is  no  good  reason  for  the  suppression  of  such 
paper  issues.  The  inconvenience  of  using  gold  coins  in  our  daily 
trade  can  only  be  avoided  by  the  use  of  paper  money,  or  silver  coins, 
and  paper  money  has  become  a  necessity  in  our  country. 

Paper  issues,  to  circulate  as  money,  must,  therefore,  be  provided 
as  an  essential  part  of  our  financial  system  and  the  basis  of  such 
issues  should  be  gold  and  silver,  instead  of  national  bonds  or  de- 
bentures, which  ultimately  require  coins  of  the  precious  metals  for 
their  redemption. 


164  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

It  is  not  only  safer  to  deposit  coins  as  the  basis  of  banking,  in 
advance  of  the  paper  issues  they  must  redeem,  but  there  is  no  na- 
tional power  that  is  so  permanent,  and  no  national  attitude  that  is 
more  commanding,  than  that  of  possessing  an  abundant  store  of  gold 
and  silver  coins,  in  banks,  that  are  under  the  control  of  the  gov- 
ernment. 

A  government  is  not  deserving  of  confidence  if  its  failure,  by 
revolution,  or  conquest,  must  be  attended  with  the  bankruptcy  of  its 
people. 

Our  national  banking  system  on  a  permanent  specie  basis,  would 
be  a  stronger  system  than  that  of  Great  Britain,  in  connection  with 
the  Bank  of  England,  because  our  deposit  of  coin  would  be  held  in 
the  treasury,  or  subject  to  the  control  of  the  government,  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  issues  of  the  national  bank,  and  our  pledge  of  re- 
demption would  make  every  legal  tender  coin,  of  either  metal,  equal 
to  the  best,  whether  the  test  is  gold  or  silver. 

As  the  situation  is  at  present  we  exclude  silver  from  all  par- 
ticipation in  the  redemption  of  our  national  promises,  except  those 
made  in  silver  certificates,  and,  thereby  we  demonetize  silver. 

We  refuse  to  accept  its  support  of  the  public  credit,  while  we 
compel  our  own  people  to  accept  it  as  legal  tender  for  small  de- 
mands and  tax  them  to  borrow  gold  for  the  payment  of  our  large 
debts,  for  bonds  and  currency,  in  favor  of  wealthy  creditors  here  and 
in  foreign  countries. 

We  borrow  gold  and  lock  it  in  the  treasury,  paying  interest  on 
it  in  order  to  prepare  to  meet  demands  for  the  redemption  of  treasury 
notes  and  national  bank  notes,  wherever  they  may,  hereafter,  be  pre- 
sented for  payment.  We  create  an  insurance  fund  for  the  benefit  of 
creditors,  on  which  we  pay  interest. 

We  also  lock  up  the  gold  we  get  from  our  revenue  laws,  for  these 
purposes;  thus  depleting  the  currency  that  ought  to  be  in  circulation; 
while  waiting  the  pleasure  of  our  bond  holders  to  demand  payment 
so  as  to  release  it  from  confinement.  We  put  a  golden  break  on  th13 
endless  chain  that  empties  the  treasury  into  the  lap  of  Europe,  and  re- 
fuse all  assistance  from  silver,  because  it  is  only  the  poorer  people 
of  Europe  who  want  silver.  We  produce  the  silver  in  America  that 
the  world  needs  for  coinage,  and  refuse  to  use  it  as  money,  because 
it  is  for  the  advantage  of  Eurepean  capitalists  that  money  should  be 
scarce,  that  bonds  should  be  abundant,  even  at  low  rates  of  interest, 
and  should  be  payable  in  gold  because  such  payment  is  impossible, 
and  their  investment  in  the  tax  paying  power  of  the  people  will, 
thereby,  become  permanent.  We  conform  our  financial  system  to  that 
of  Europe  because  our  capitalists  prefer  it,  for  like  reasons. 

While  doing  this,  we  take  silver  dollars  on  deposit,  from  our  own 
people,  issue  silver  certificates  to  them  to  circulate  as  money,  to 
supply  nearly  all  their  needs  and  we  pay  nearly  all  the  expenses  of 
the  government  in  these  certificates. 

That  they  have  so  frequently  saved  the  government  from  default 
in  its  current  expenses,  is  a  conclusive  reason  for  the  use  of  silver 
coins,  in  the  vaults  of  the  national  banks,  or  in  the  treasury  vaults, 
to  fortify  the  basis  of  redemption  of  bank  issues,  which  it  would  do, 
as  perfectly,  as  if  it  were  gold. 

All  of  our  paper  obligations,  in  all  their  varied  forms,  except 
silver  certificates,  are  now  sustained  by  the  pledge  of  the  United 
States  to  pay  them  in  gold  coin.  Yet  silver  coin,  with  an  emascu- 
lated legal  tender  power,  as  compared  with  gold,  has  a  much  wider 
circulation,  dollar  for  dollar,  among  our  people,  and  is  sustained  in 
its  purchasing  power,  among  all  our  industrial  classes,  by  the  im- 
perative demand  of  all  forms  of  domestic  trade  for  silver  coins,  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  their  business,  and  to  purchase  the  ne- 
cessities of  life.  They  get  silver  coins  and  use  them,  despite  the 
effort  of  the  holders  of  gold  to  destroy  their  value.  If  they  could 
not  get  the  silver  coin  of  the  United  States,  they  would  use  the  Mex- 
ican coins,  as  is  done  by  the  Chinese  and  Filipinos. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  165 

No  man  in  this  country  is  so  rich  that  he  can  dispense  with  the 
use  of  silver  coin  in  providing  his  supplies  and,  to  the  poor,  it  is  the 
equivalent  of  their  daily  bread,  raiment  and  shelter. 

But  our  laws  discredit  both  gold  and  silver,  as  the  basis  of  all 
banking,  by  prohibiting  issues  of  paper  money  by  private  and  state 
banks,  and  by  refusing  charters  to  national  banks  on  any  basis  except 
that  of  national  bonds. 

This  is  a  revolution  and  new  departure  in  finance,  that  no  other 
great  nation  has  ventured  upon.  No  other  great  nation  has  seemed 
willing  to  inflict  almost  universal  bankruptcy  on  its  people,  if  the 
exigencies  to  which  they  are  exposed  should  cause  their  credit  to 
sink  below  par. 

This  has  been  attempted  by  some  of  our  states,  with  the  result 
of  a  discredited  currency,  followed  by  bankruptcy  and  repudiation, 
with  enormous  losses  to  the  people  and,  in  the  end,  by  "asset"  bank- 
ing, on  private  credits  and  worthless  promises,  culminating  in  the 
financial  degeneracy  of  issuing  certificates  of  indebtedness  by  private 
persons,  known  as  "shin  plasters,"  to  circulate  as  money. 

It  is  only  the  present  growth,  prosperity,  prestige  and  power  of 
the  United  States  that  gives  to  its  credit  the  strength  to  prevent  a 
similar  lapse  in  the  value  of  our  national  bank  issues.  If  we  were 
financially  as  weak  as  Colombia,  or  as  the  confederate  states  became 
towards  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  our  bank  issues  would  drop  to  a 
low  standard  of  value  as  our  credit  had  dropped,  at  the  same  period. 

No  nation  has  a  sufficient  assurance  of  continued  power  to  give 
a  moral  justification  to  laws  that  substitute  its  credit  for  the  precious 
metals,  as  the  basis  of  industry,  trade  and  commerce.  We  adopted 
this  false  system  of  national  finance,  to  meet  the  necessities  of  a  ter- 
rible civil  war,  and  we  continued  it,  to  meet  the  demands  of  a  coali- 
tion between  the  brigands  of  finance  in  our  country  with  those  of 
p]urope. 

They  have  used  the  national  debts  of  European  states,  enor- 
mously swollen  by  the  results  of  great  wars  that  were  fought  to 
destroy  the  old  feudal  system  of  land  tenures  and  villieriage,  and 
they  have  transferred  its  powers  and  its  arrogant  supremacy  to  the 
holders  of  consols  and  rents,  and  have  turned  over  the  authority 
of  its  overseers  to  opepors  and  collectors  of  taxes,  to  gather  the  sub- 
stance of  the  toiling,  industrial  classes,  who  are  doomed  to  subordin- 
ation and  poverty. 

The  same  interests,  moved  by  the  same  purpose  of  subordinating 
industry  to  the  demands  of  hoarded  wealth  and  employing  the  tax 
laws  as  the  instruments  to  enforce  their  requisitions,  have  planned 
to  keep  our  laboring  classes  in  perpetual  subordination,  by  increasing 
the  national  debt  of  the  United  States,  and  by  making  their  burdens 
perpetual. 

Gold  and  silver  alike  stand  up  to  resist  this  power  to  oppress. 
that  is  given  to  credit,  in  the  form  of  bonds,  which  is  also  converted 
into  current  money;  and  the  friends  of  sound  money  protest,  and 
will  forever  decry  this  unnatural  perversion  of  the  chiefest  temporal 
blessing  that  God  has  given  to  man. 

If  we  would  prosper  we  must  restore  to  the  precious  metals  their 
supremacy  as  money. 

The  joint  resistance  of  the  precious  metals,  to  the  usurpation  of 
those  who  are  powerful  enough  to  own  the  public  debt,  is  rendered 
futile  by  the  plan  of  the  monopolists  (which  is  so  far  successful)  to 
divide  gold  and  silver  into  competitive  antagonists,  and  to  place  it 
beyond  the  power  of  a  single  metal  ever  to  pay  the  public  debt. 

The  plan  to  increase  and  perpetuate  the  public  debt,  payable  in 
gold,  is  backed  by  organized  capital,  including  the  national  banks 
throughout  the  country. 

Gold,  representing  the  power  of  the  organized  few,  against  silver, 
representing  the  power  of  the  unorganized  masses,  is  easily  em- 
ployed and  controlled  in  the  work  of  destroying  the  equal  power  of 
silver  as  a  money  metal,  and  silver  is  thereby  made  useless  in  the 


166  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

struggle  of  the  people  to  pay  the  national  debts,  and  to  escape  taxa- 
tion. This  is  simply  the  old  burden  of  feudal  servitude,  in  a  new  form. 

Gold,  in  such  conditions,  is  also  made,  by  our  laws,  the  sole 
arbiter  of  the  price,  or  value,  of  all  the  leading  fruits  of  Industry, 
and  the  laborer  earning  money  with  limited  purchasing  power,  is 
deprived  of  all  hope  of  becoming  independent  of  his  master — th3 
gilded  capitalist. 

Of  course,  it  is  now  an  established  fact  that  all  the  gold  and 
silver  in  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  is  not  equal  to  the  payment  of  the 
debts  of  those  nations,  if  it  was  applied  to  their  discharge. 

This  means  the  salvery  of  industry  to  capital,  which  is  to  be 
perpetual. 

In  America  the  conditions  are  not  so  desperate,  as  yet,  because 
the  balances  of  trade  in  our  favor  have  enabled  us  to  reduce  the  sum 
of  our  national  debt  and,  until  recently,  the  imperialists,  who  make 
gold  their  scepter-power,  have  not  been  bold  enough  to  declare  that 
its  sway  shall  be  perpetual. 

Now  the  monometalists  feel  strong  enough  to  propose  the  increase 
of  the  power  of  our  national  debt,  as  the  capital  of  national  banking, 
by  permitting  such  banks  to  issue  more  than  dollar  for  dollar,  in 
paper  money,  upon  the  face  of  the  bonds  held  by  them.  This  can 
only  mean  the  perpetuity  of  our  bonded  debt,  as  a  principle  of  gov- 
ernment, and  its  conversion  into  a  substitute  for  gold  and  silver 
money,  thereby  adding  50  per  cent  to  the  burden  of  our  debt,  and  creat- 
ing a  permanent  necessity  for  the  taxation  of  the  people  to  pay  in- 
terest on  it. 

This  tempting  fallacy  of  banking  on  the  "oasis  of  credit,  instead 
of  gold  and  silver  in  the  bank  vaults,  drives  others  of  the  monopolistic 
class  into  "asset  banking,"  which  opens  the  door  to  the  wildest  pro- 
jects that  have  ever  found  practical  and  disastrous  illustration  in  the 
frauds,  bankruptcies  and  ruin  inflicted  upon  the  people  by  the 
licentious  abuse  of  their  confidence,  and  the  grind  of  their  necessi- 
ties, in  the  issue  of  "wild  cat"  and  "pigeon  roost"  currency  to  cir- 
culate as  money. 

It  would  require  a  long  and  very  disgraceful  chapter  in  our 
history  to  record  these  desperate  banking  operations. 

The  citation  of  the  specific  facts  of  history  is  not  needed  to  re- 
mind our  people  of  these  sad  years  of  ruin,  that  involved  states  and 
people  in  the  trouble  and  disgrace  of  a  system  of  banking  that  was 
based  on  credit,  instead  of  gold  and  silver. 

Our  system  of  national  banking  based  exclusively  on  the  na- 
tional credit,  being  unsound,  dangerous  and  oppressive  to  tax  payers, 
the  simple  and  effective  remedy  is  found  in  the  payment  of  the  na- 
tional debt,  and  tlie  substitution  of  gold  and  silver,  in  place  of  the 
debt,  as  the  basis  of  national  banking. 

The  exclusive  legislative  control  of  all  banks  of  issue  and  r<T- 
demption  should  be  exercised  by  congress,  as  is  now  the  practical  situ- 
ation. Congress  should,  therefore,  provide  for  the  payment  of  the 
national  debt  and  for  the  substitution  of  gold  and  silver  in  place  of 
that  debt  as  the  capital  of  all  national  banks. 

If  we  intend  to  keep  our  promises  to  the  world,  and  especially  to 
our  own  people,  we  will  pay  our  national  debt  at  the  earliest  prac- 
ticable time.  And  if  congress  has  any  such  purpose,  it  will  not  hes- 
itate at  once  to  declare  it,  and  to  provide  for  its  execution  as  a 
settled  policy  of  our  government. 

When  this  debt  was  created  this  promise  was  made  to  our  tax 
payers  and  the  sacred  pledge  was  given  to  our  posterity  that  the 
national  debt  should  be  paid  as  soon  as  it  was  possible. 

It  is  contrary  to  all  just  conceptions  of  the  character  of  the 
free,  self  governing  and  sovereign  people  of  the  United  States  that 
congress  should  create  such  debts;  saddle  them  upon  posterity,  mort- 
gage the  labor  of  our  children  for  their  payment;  foster  and  protect 
favored  classes,  by  exempting  them  from  taxation  on  that  class  of 
property;  and  then,  in  the  face  of  such  solemn  pledges  to  the  con- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  167 

trary,  maintain  the  debt,  in  perpetuity;  increase  its  volume  and 
fasten  it,  as  an  irrevocable  tax  burden,  on  the  present  and  future 
generations,  by  making  the  debt  the  only  basis  for  the  supply  of  the 
people  with  the  paper  currency,  which  is  indispensable  to  all  their 
industrial  pursuits.  It  cannot  be  just  to  starve  the  industries  of  the 
country,  unless  the  people  will  agree  to  pay  taxes  for  the  benefit 
of  favored  classes. 

A  system  thus  founded  upon  the  basis  of  broken  pledges;  that 
gives  to  gold  the  utmost  power;  and  dedicates  it  to  the  service  of 
the  brigands  of  the  stock  markets  and  the  feudal  lords  of  finance: 
while  it  destroys  the  purchasing  and  debt  paying  power  of  silver,  is 
a  system  that  no  true  American  can  consent  to  tolerate  longer  than 
it  can  be  safely  changed. 

It  should  be  impossible  that  the  national  debt  should  be  per- 
petual; and  its  payment  will  remove  the  whole  foundation  on  which 
the  national  banking  system  rests.  There  will  never  be  a  time  when 
this  necessary  change  will  be  made  more  easily,  or  with  greater  ad-  • 
vantage  to  the  country.  We  have  reached  the  point  when  our  finan- 
cial system  will  destroy  the  country,  or  will  save  it. 

It  requires  at  least  6  per  cent  per  annum  to  be  raised  by  taxation 
to  pay  the  interest  on  the  face  value  of  the  bonds  of  the  United  States, 
now  held  by  the  national  banks,  and  to  meet  the  loss  in  the  public  rev- 
enues, state  and  federal,  that  is  caused  by  the  exemption  of  such  bonds 
from  all  taxation. 

The  premium  on  these  bonds  is  at  the  rate  of  from  6  to  9  per 
cent,  in  the  money  markets. 

This  includes  interest  at  2  per  cent,  tax  exemptions,  estimated  at 
4  per  cent,  and  the  convenience  of  holding  bonds  as  a  safe  investment, 
estimated  at  1  to  3  per  cent. 

This  premium  would  equal  the  face  value  of  the  bonds  in  about 
eleven  to  fifteen  years,  thereby  doubling  the  debt  in  such  period. 

This  advantage,  given  to  the  holders  of  our  bonds,  added  to  the 
advantage  of  circulating  the  face  value  of  the  bonds  in  the  form  of  na- 
tional bank  notes,  xrdeemable  by  the  government  in  gold  coin,  and 
loaned  to  the  peopre  at  extortinate  rates,  adds  enormously  to  their 
value,  as  an  exclusive  privilege  granted  to  capitalists.  The  per- 
petuity of  such  a  system  is  impossible  and  it  should  be  now  abandoned. 

All  this  results  from  a  system  that  excludes  gold  and  silver  from 
the  basis  of  banking,  by  adopting  the  national  credit  as  the  sole  basis. 

These  special  privileges  cannot  be  long  maintained  against  the  will 
of  the  people,  when  they  understand  the  oppressive  burden  of  in- 
justice it  imposes  upon  them. 

We  can  pay  the  bonds  now  held  by  the  national  banks  in  gold, 
without  the  feast  strain  upon  the  country,  in  ten  years,  or  even  in 
five  years,  and  require  them,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  their  charters,  to 
deposit  the  amount  of  the  bonds  held  by  them,  in  their  own  vaults, 
in  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  in  coin,  as  banking  capital. 

We  can  go  much  further,  with  benefit  to  the  banks  and  with  great 
relief  to  the  country,  by  accepting  silver  legal  tender  coins,  on  deposit, 
as  banking  capital,  in  sums  equal  to  the  deposits  of  gold  or  bullion,  or 
approximately  equal. 

Under  such  conditions  the  banks  could  have  no  real  Inducement 
for  refusing  such  silver  coins  in  payment  of  their  bonds,  or,  say,  one 
half  of  the  amount. 

A  distinct  forward  step  would  be  taken  in  the  rehabilitation  of 
silver  money,  in  its  commercial  value  as  money  of  redemption, 
if  it  was  united  with  gold,  as  capital,  in  the  national  banks. 

We  are  now  employing  large  sums  of  silver  coin,  deposited  in  the 
treasury  to  redeem  silver  certificates  in  circulation  as  money,  and  with 
such  benefit  to  the  country  that  the  repeal  of  that  law  would  cause 
distress  to  the  people  and  the  government. 

The  transfer  of  such  coins  to  the  banks  would  not  injure  the 
credit  of  bank  notes  issued,  as  silver  certificates  are  now  issued  upon 
their  value  as  money  and,  if  the  option  is  given  to  the  holders  of  na- 


168  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

tional  bank  notes  so  issued,  to  demand  redemption,  in  gold,  at  the 
bank  of  issue,  with  the  obligation  of  the  government  to  redeem  them 
in  gold,  if  the  bank  of  issue  refuses  so  to  redeem  them,  every  dollar 
of  silver  so  deposited  would  perform  all  the  functions  of  a  dollar  of 
gold,  and,  together,  they  would  form  an  equal  support  to  our  national 
b.ink,  paper  money. 

Such  an  option,  given  to  the  holders  of  national  bank  notes,  could 
not  in  the  least  expose  the  banks  or  the  government  to  the  combina- 
tion of  speculators  in  money,  to  deprive  the  banks  of  their  gold. 

The  necessity  for  .making  the  demand  for  gold,  at  the  bank  of 
issue,  would  prevent  the  raiders  from  concerted  action,  or  possible 
success  in  any  effort  to  withdraw  gold  from  the  country  and  ship  it 
back  and  forth,  across  the  oceans,  as  a  commodity  of  commerce,  as 
is  now  being  done,  to  settle  the  balance  of  trade,  or  the  losses,  or 
winnings,  of  the  gambling  schemes  of  dealers  in  stocks. 

It  is,  in  fact,  to  this  inferior  function  that  we  have  degraded  gold, 
by  robbing  it  of  its  higher  office  of  supporting  the  credit  of  our  own 
currency,  and  strengthening  our  home  industries,  and  by  using  it  as 
a  commercial  commodity,  in  settling  our  balances  of  trade  and  the 
gambling  debts  of  stock  brokers. 

The  true  wealth  of  our  country,  as  it  is  of  all  countries,  depends 
upon  thrift,  and  the  prosperity  of  our  industries,  accompanied  with 
permanent  stores  of  the  precious  metals,  sufficient  to  prevent  injurious 
depression  in  trade  through  our  lack  of  a  full  supply  of  money  for 
proper  purposes. 

No  country  can  suffer,  or  be  disturbed  in  its  industries,  by  panics, 
that  maintains  a  safe  reserve  of  precious  metals  for  the  use  of  its 
people,  as  money. 

Such  a  policy  is  not  a  hoarding  of  idle  wealth,  but  the  accumula- 
tion of  financial  power,  that  gives  prestige  to  a  nation  and  security  to 
its  people. 

If  we  place  gold  and  silver,  as  the  foundation  of  our  currency,  in 
national  banks  controlled  by  our  government,  an^  pledge  the  faith  of 
the  government  to  the  redemption  of  the  issues  of  the  banks  in  gold 
and  silver  coins,  at  the  option  of  the  holder,  these  depositories,  in- 
stead of  being  raided  and  depleted  by  speculators  in  coin  and  closed 
by  panics  created  for  the  purpose,  will  increase  with  the  growth  of  our 
country  and  will  put  capital  at  work  for  the  benefit  of  the  people. 

Such  a  system,  with  balances  of  foreign  trade  in  our  favor,  will 
cause  a  steady  and  immeasurable  increase  of  wealth,  in  which  every 
citizen  will  have  the  full  share  that  is  due  to  honest  industry. 

The  battles  of  "the  standards"  will  cease,  and  the  ratio  between 
the  metals,  according  to  weight,  will  cease  to  trouble,  and  the  pur- 
chasing power  and  the  debt  paying  power  of  the  metals  will  all  be 
adjusted  by  the  value  of  the  currency  they  represent  and  support 
and,  in  all  these  fluctuations,  they  will  work  together  for  the  good  of 
the  country. 

The  paper  currency  issued  upon  a  joint  specie  basis  of  gold  and 
silver  will  always  represent  the  highest  -relative  value  that  any  coun- 
try can  attribute  to  gold,  or  to  silver;  and  such  paper  issues,  guarn- 
teed  by  the  government,  as  to  its  redemption  in  gold  or  silver  at  the 
option  of  the  holder,  will  be  as  good  as  the  best  money  that  any  coun- 
try can  supply,  and  it  will  be  current,  without  discount,  in  all  the 
commercial  countries. 

If  we  change  our  system  of  banking,  from  a  credit  basis  to  a 
cash  basis,  using  the  precious  metals  for  its  foundation,  and  the 
credit  of  the  government  to  insure  its  integrity,  we  will  forever  close 
the  door  upon  the  bickerings  that  cause  distrust,  antagonism  and 
panics  in  our  financial  affairs. 

The  payment  of  the  national  debt  will  clear  the  way  far  the  adop- 
tion of  a  system  of  finance  that  will  compose  all  our  difficulties  and 
give  confidence  to  all  v/ho  toil  and  will  secure  the  permanent  welfare 
of  the  country. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  169 

All  proper  financial  reform,  in  our  present  sad  condition,  depends 
upon  this  predicate,  and  I  most  respectfully,  and  with  entire  confi- 
dence, present  this  as  the  question  that  is  entitled  to  the  immediate 
and  most  careful  consideration  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

The  results  that  must  follow  the  correct  settlement  of  this  long, 
unnecessary  and  unhappy  contest  as  to  use  of  gold  and  silver  as  money 
metals,  on  the  terms  of  just  equality,  are  so  important,  that  I  cannot 
conceive  of  a  higher  honor  that  the  Mining  Congress  could  achieve, 
than  to  lead  in  its  final  adjustment.  Witn  great  respect, 

JOHN  T.  MORGAN. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  move  we  adjourn  to 
meet  tomorrow  at  9:30  A.  M.  at  the  City  Hall  at  Deadwood. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried  and  Congress  adjourned 
to  September  12th,  1903,  at  9:30  A.  M. 

Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  September  12th,  1903,  9:30  A.  M. 
PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     Congress  will  be  in  order. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  we  will  take 
up  first  any  communications  the  secretary  may  have  on  his  table. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  a  letter  from  Fred  J.  Keisel  with  reference 
to  the  National  Irrigation  Congress,  as  follows: 

I  have  here  which  I  merely  will  submit  to  you  letters  in  connec- 
tion with  the  American  Mining  Congress,  extending  congratulations 
from  nearly  every  civilized  nation  in  the  world.  I  have  also  letters 
here  from  all  the  departments  at  Washington,  with  that  of  an  addi- 
tional letter  from  the  president  of  the  United  States.  I  have  letters 
here  from  nearly  every  United  States  senator.  I  have  complimentary 
letters  from  the  greater  portion  of  our  representatives  in  congress  or 
the  lower  house.  I  will  not  read  them,  except  the  first  one,  from  our 
ex-president,  L.  Bradford  Prince.  Here  is  also  another  package  of  let- 
ters from  distinguished  men  all  over  the  country,  which  I  will  submit 
to  our  stenographer  who  will  include  them  all  in  the  publication  of 
the  proceedings  of  this  session.  There  is  also  a  letter  from  our  ex- 
president,  Mr.  Schaffner,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  the  same  lines  as  the 
one  I  read  from  ex-Gcvernor  Prince. 

Ogden,  Utah,  Sept,  7th,  1903. 

Judge  J.  R.  Richards,  care     of    American    Mining    Congress,    Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

My  Dear  Sir: — We  were  delighted  to  hear  through  Mr.  A.  M.  Moss, 
of  Payette,  that  you  will  favor  us  with  an  address  at  this  congress. 

We  are  sending  you,  under  separate  cover,  two  posters  advertis- 
ing the  congress,  and  would  ask  that  you  display  same  to  the  best 
possible  advantage  at  Deadwood,  and  also  read  our  official  call,  copy 
of  which  we  inclose  herewith,  and  extend  an  invitation  to  the  delegates 
at  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  attend  the  llth  National  Irriga- 
tion Congress.  We  would  appreciate  your  compliance  with  these  re- 
quests as  a  very  great  favor. 

This  congress  is  assuming  now  an  International  aspect;  Spain, 
France  and  Mexico  will  all  be  represented  here  by  officially  appointed 
delegates,  who  are  also  students  of  irrigation. 

Thanking  you  for  your  courtesy,  very  truly  yours, 

FRED  J.  KIESEL. 


170  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

White  House,  Washington. 

The  president  regrets  his  inability  to  accept  the  courteous  invi- 
tation of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  present  at  its  sixth  an- 
nual session,  September  7th-12th,  1903. 

Grove,  Hamilton  Co.,  N.  Y.,  July  28th,  1903. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood. 

Dear  Sir:  I  regret  very  much  that  my  engagements  are  such  that 
it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  attend  the  Congress  in  September,  i 
trust  that  the  session  may  be  productive  of  that  great  good  which  the 
Congress  has  it  in  its  power  to  do  by  inviting  the  attention  of  the 
public  to  the  important  industries  of  mining  and  by  making  such  sug- 
gestions to  congress  in  Washington  as  may  affect  national  legislation. 

Very  respectfully, 

WILLIAM  H.  HUNT. 
Mexico,  Julio  15  de  1903. 

Sr.  J.  H.  Richards,  Presidente  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  U.  S.  A. 

Muy  Distinguido  Si.  Mio:  Tuve  el  honor  de  recibir  la  atenta  in- 
vitacion  que  se  ha  servido  Ud.  dirigirme  para  concurrir  a  la  Sexta 
Sesion  del  Congreso  que  tan  dignamente  preside,  la  cual  debera  tener 
lugar  del  7  al  12  de  Septiembre  proximo;  y  al  tener  la  pena  de  mani- 
festar  a  Ud.  que  no  me  sera  posible  asistir  a  dicha  Sesion  por  impe- 
dirlo  las  atenciones  del  Despacho  de  la  Secretaria  de  Guerra  y  Marina 
que  es  a  mi  cargo,  me  apresuro  a  dar  a  Ud.  las  mas  cumplidas  gracias 
p  ji-  su  galante  atencion. 

Con  esta  oportunidad,  me  es  grato  suscribirme  de  Ud.  afmo.  v 
atento  seguro  S.  S.  J.  F.  MENA. 

Chicago,  July  15th,  1903. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Richards,  Pres.,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  DeadwooT! 
and  Lead,  S.  D.,  U.  S.  A. 

Dear  Sir: — I  have  the  honor  to  receive  your  kind  invitation  to  the 
sixth  annual  session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  over  which  you 
preside  and  which  takes  place  from  7th  to  12th  of  September. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  attend  the  same 
Congress  on  account  of  the  attention  that  the  ministry  of  war  and 
marine  now  under  my  charge  demands. 

Thanking  you  for  your  attention,  I  am,  Yours, 

F.  Z.  MENA. 

Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  Sept,  5,  1903. 
To  the  President  of  tt»e  American  Mining  Congress. 

Dear  Sir: — It  is  with  deep  regret  that  at  the  last  moment  I  find 
it  impossible  to  attend  the  Congress,  on  account  of  business  matters 
which  cannot  be  postponed.  Until  within  a  day  or  two  I  have  never 
doubted  being  present. 

As  an  original  member,  and  its  first  president,  I  naturally  take 
a  great  interest  in  the  success  of  the  Congress,  which  is  certainly  one 
of  the  most  important  of  our  national  gatherings. 

I  trust  that  this  session  may  be  fruitful  of  good  results,  especially 
in  the  modernizing  of  our  mining  laws,  and  in  the  establishment  of  a 
national  Department  of  Mines. 

With  best  wishes,  respectfully  yours, 

L.  BRADFORD  PRINCE. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  171 

Carlisle,  Pa.,  August  11,  1903. 
Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  Deadwood  S.  Dak. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Mahon: — Accept  my  thanks  for  the  kind  invitation 
to  attend  the  next  annual  session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress, 
to  be  held  in  Deadwood  in  September. 

I  had  hoped  to  be  &ble  to  attend  the  Congress,  and  would  probably 
have  done  so  if  it  were  held  during  the  summer,  but  on  account  of  cpurc 
business  I  am  so  busy  here  in  September  that  I  cannot  leave  without 
great  inconvenience. 

Hoping  that  the  convention  will  be  fraught  with  good  results,  and 
with  kind  regards  for  yourself,  I  remain,  Yours  very  truly, 

E.  W.  BIDDLE. 

Springfield,  Aug.  17th,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary  to  the  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood,  S.  Dak. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  your  kind  invitation  of  some  time 
ago  to  attend  the  cession  of  your  Congress  at  Deadwood  and  Lead. 

I  regret,  however,  to  have  to  state  that  previous  engagements  for 
that  date  make  it  impossible  for  me  tc  attend  your  meetings,  much  as  I 
should  desire  to  do  so.  Yours  very  truly, 

C.  H.  CRANTZ. 

St.  Louis,  August  26,  1903. 

To  the  President  and  Members  of  the  American     Mining     Congress, 
Deadwood,  South  Dakota. 

Gentlemen: — The  Business  Men's  League  of  St.  Louis  has  the 
honor  to  invite  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  meet  in  St.  Louis 
in  1904. 

The  great  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  will  then  be  open,  and 
the  city  in  this  and  other  respects  will  be  most  attractive.  The  hotel 
and  hall  facilities  will  be  adequate  and  railway  rates  will  be  low. 

Very  truly  yours, 

WM.  FLEWELLYN  SAUNDERS,  JONATHAN  RICE, 

Secretary  and  General  Manager.  President 

Saint  Louis,  August  26,  1903. 
To  the  President  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

Sir: — On  behalf  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  I  desire  to 
extend  to  the  American  Mining  Congress  a  cordial  Invitation  to  hold 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  association  for  1904  in  the  city  of  St. 
Louis. 

In  that  year  will  be  held  at  Saint  Louis  the  Universal  Exposition 
in  commemoration  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana  territory.  The  exposition  management  will  be  prepared 
to  furnish  without  charge  a  satisfactory  hall  for  the  holding  of  the 
sessions  of  the  association.  The  committee  on  ceremonies  will,  if  de- 
sired, recognize  the  presence  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  by 
setting  apart  a  special  day,  or  by  providing  some  distinctive  feature 
of  the  program. 


172  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

The  information  service,  conducted  without  charge  by  the  expo- 
sition management,  will  assist  delegates  in  obtaining  satisfactory  ac- 
commodations at  reasonable  prices.  The  fair  name  of  St.  Louis  for 
hospitality  will  not  be  marred  in  1904.  Assurances  given  by  the  rail- 
rcads  warrant  the  promise  of  very  low  rates  in  transportation. 

Respectfully, 
D.  A.  FRANCIS,  President. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Aug.  25th,  1903. 

To  the  President  and  Members,  American  Mining     Congress,     Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

Gentlemen: — In  behalf  of  the*  city  of  St.  Louis  I  take  pleasure 
in  extending  to  your  association  a  cordial  invitation  to  hold  your 
meeting  for  the  year  1904,  in  this  city.  Yours  truly, 

J.  S.  KADDUSBY, 
President  of  the  Council  and  Acting  Mayor. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Sec. 

My  Dear  Sir: — Please  accept  my  thanks  for  the  very  polite  and 
cordial  invitation  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  with  you  at 
Deadwood  and  Lead  at  your  coming  annual  session  in  September. 

.  Absence  in  Europe  makes  it  impossible  for  me  to  accept,  but  I 
none  the  less  appreciate  tEe  compliment  of  your  invitation  and  eT- 
tend  my  most  hearty  wishes  for  a  very  successful  gathering. 
Believe  I  remain,  Yours  very  truly, 

H.  K.  PORTER,  31st.  Dist.  of  Pa. 
St.  Moritz,  Switzerland,  Aug.  6th,  1903. 

Hacienda  Del  Pozo  De  Verona,  Pleasanton,  Calif. 

Mrs.  Hearst  regrets  that  absence  makes  it  impossible  for  her 
to  give  herself  the  pleasure  of  attending  the  American  Mining  Con- 
gress to  be  held  in  Deadwood  and  Lead  during  September,  1903. 

August  sixteenth. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  1,  1903. 

Hon.  JT.  H.  Richards,  President  American     Mining     Congress,     Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Richards: — On  account  of  some  important  shipping 
matters  in  which  I  am  interested  here,  I  find  it  will  be  impossible  for 
me  to  attend  the  Congress  meeting  at  I  expected  and  intended.  I  trust 
that  the  meeting  will  prove  of  great  and  lasting  benefit  to  those  who 
are  deeply  interested  in  practical  mining  and  who  will  attend  this  ses- 
sion of  the  Congress.  I  have  talked  with  a  number  of  Eastern  dele- 
gates who  have  promised  me  they  will  attend,  some  of  them  from  ttie 
states  of  Ohio,  New  York  and  as  far  east  as  the  Atlantic  sea  board 
cities.  I  bespeak  for  this  session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  a 
large,  enthusiastic  and  practical  meeting,  and  with  kindest  regards  and 
well  wishes  to  the  delegates  who  so  ably  assisted  in  making  the  last 
year's  meeting  such  a  grand  success  and  of  which  I  had  the  honor  to 
be  president,  I  remain,  Sincerely  and  cordially  yours, 

Cleveland,  Ohio  E.  L.  SHAFNER. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  173 

Elkins,  West  Virginia,  July  13,  1903. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Seoretai-y,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood, 
S.  Dakota. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  invitation  to  the  sixth  annual  session  oT 
the  American  Mining  Congress,  addressed  to  Hon.  S.  B.  Elkins,  is  re- 
ceived. On  behalf  of  Senator  Elkins  I  wish  to  thank  you  for  the  cour- 
tesy and  to  assure  of  regret  that  an  extended  European  tour  will  not 
permit  of  his  enjoying  the  occasion.  Yours  very  truly, 

F.  L.  DANISON,  Secretary. 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  July  13,  1903. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  your  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  American 
Miners'  Congress  convention,  to  be  held  at  Deadwood,  September  7th 
to  12th.  Owing  to  previous  engagements  at  our  state  fair  which  will 
be  held  about  these  dates  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  attend. 

I  should  have  been  pleased  to  attend  the  convention,  as  I  have 
been  interested  in  mining  for  the  past  45  years. 

Hoping  you  will  have  a  pleasant  and  successful  meeting,  I  am, 

Yours  very  truly, 

W.  B.  SCOTT. 

Cheyenne,  Wyo,  7 — 13 — 03. 
Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  Deadwood,  South  Dakota. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  invitation  to  at- 
tend the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  to  be 
held  in  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between  the  7th  and  12th 
days  of  September. 

I  regret  exceedingly  thaf  business  and  other  engagements  will 
serve  to  prevent  my  acceptance  of  your  Invitation. 

Very  truly  yours, 

F.  E.  WARREN. 

Omaha,  July  11,  1903. 
Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Secretary,  Deadwood,  South  Dakota. 

Dear  Sir:  I  take  pleasure  in  acknowledging  receipt  of  your  kind 
invitation  to  attend  tie  American  Mining  Congress,  the  sixth  annual 
session  of  which  will  be  held  in  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead  be- 
tween the  7th  and  12ht  days  of  September,  1903. 

It  would  afford  ire  great  pleasure  to  attend  this  session,  but  I 
find  it  impossible  ?.t  this  time  to  state  definitely  whether  I  shall  be  able 
to  do  so. 

Thanking  you  for  your  courtesy,  I  remain,  Yours  truly, 

J.  A.  MILLARD. 
Fort  Dodge,  Iowa,  July  11,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,   Secretary,  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood, 
S.  D. 

Dear  Mr.  Mahon:  I  have  your  letter  inviting  me  to  attend  the 
annual  meeting  of  your  Congress  during  the  early  part  of  September; 
and  in  reply  will  say  that  my  engagements  are  such  for  that  time  that 


174  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

I  will  be  unable  to  be  with  you,  although  I  greatly  appreciate  the  kind- 
ness of  your  invitation. 

With  cordial  personal  regards,  I  am,  Yours  very  truly, 

J.  P.  DOLLIVER. 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  July  14,  1903. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  hrve  your  favor  inviting  me  to  be  present  at  the 
sixth  annual  session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  held  at 
Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  between  the  seventh  and  twelfth  days  of 
September. 

I  regret  exceedingly  that  other  engagement?  about  that  time  will 
prevent  me  from  having  the  pleasure  to  be  present.  I  hope  the  results 
of  the  convention  may  be  valuable  to  those  interested  in  mining. 

Very  truly  yours, 

W.  B.  ALLISON. 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  July  15th,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon.  Secretary,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood,  So.  Dak. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  the  kind  invitation  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  to  attend  its  sixth  annual  session  in  September  next.  I  should 
be  very  happy  indeed  to  be  present  at  the  session  of  the  Congress  but 
it  would  be  difficult  for  me  to  say  positively  at  this  time  whether  I 
could  be  present  or  not,  but  if  I  can  arrange  to  attend  I  will  notify 
you  some  time  before  the  session  convenes. 

Trusting  that  the  Congress  will  be  a  most  profitable  "  one  ancl 
thanking  you  for  your  remembrance  of  me,  I  am, 

Very  truly  yours, 

THOMAS  KEARNS. 
Hartford,  Conn.,  July  15,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  In  the  absence  of  Senator  Hawley,  on  the  water,  where 
he  is  endeavoring  to  secure  a  pleasant  and  restful  vacation,  I  b~eg  to 
acknowledge  your  very  kind  invitation  to  him  to  attend  the  Mining 
Congress  in  September,  and  regret  to  advise  that  owing  to  previous 
engagements  it  w?ll  bo  impossible  for  him  to  attend.  Yours  truly, 

R.  W.  THOMPSON, 
Secretary  Hon.  J.  R.  Hawley. 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  July  15,  1903. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Mahon:  Senator  Beveridge  directs  me  to  thank  you 
for  your  thoughtfulness  in  sending  him  an  invitation  to  the  American 
Mining  Congress  to  be  held  in  Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  in  September. 
The  senator  regrets  that  other  engagements  will  make  it  impossible 
for  him  to  attend,  but  he  is  appreciative  of  your  invitation. 

Very  truly  yours, 
THOMAS  R.  SHIPP,  Secretary. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  iteadwood,  S.  D. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  175 

Washington,  D.  C.,  July  15,  1903. 
The  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood,  South  Dakota. 

Gentlemen:  I  am  in  receipt  of  you-r  very  kind  invitation  to  the 
sixth  annual  session  cf  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  held  in 
the  cities  of  Lead  and  Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  between  the  7th  and 
12th  days  of  September,  and  regret  exceedingly  thai  I  will  be  unable 
to  be  with  you  during  that  time.  Yours  very  truly, 

M.  tf.  QUAY. 
Hueneme,  California,  July  15,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  The  American  Mining  Congress,,  Dead- 
wood,  South  Dakota. 

Sir:  In  the  absence  of  Senator  Bard,  and  in  his  behalf,  I  acknowl- 
edge the  receipt  of,  and  thank  the  American  Mining  Congress,  for  its 
cordial  invitation  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  Congress 
to  be  held  in  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between 
the  7th  and  12h  days  of  September,  1903. 

Senator  Bard  is  not  expected  to  return  to  the  United  States  before 
October  next.  Respectfully, 

WM.  M'HILLIKER,  Stenographer. 
Meadville,  Penna.,  July  16,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahop,  Secretary,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Dea3- 
wood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  invitation  on  behalf  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  Congress,  to  be  held 
in  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  and  addressed  to 
Senator  Penrose,  is  at  hand,  replying  to  which  I  beg  to  say  the  senator 
is  absent  in  British  Columbia,  and  will  not  return  until  after  the  event 
referred  to.  I,  therefore,  regret  that  the  invitation  cannot  be  brought 
to  the  senator's  attention  until  after  his  return.  Yours  truly, 

W.  R.  ANDREWS,  Private  Secretary. 
Tacoma,  Washington,  July  16,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  J  desire  to  thank  you  very  cordially  for  invitation  of 
the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  present  at  its  sixth  annual  ses- 
sion, to  be  held  *t»  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  be- 
tween September  7  and  12. 

If  it  is  at  all  possible  I  shall  be  only  too  glad  to  be  with  you;  but 
at  the  present  time  the  indications  are  that  I  will  be  prevented  from 
doing  so  by  previous  engagements. 

Wishing  the  Congress  every  success,  I  remain, 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  G.  FOSTER. 


176  OFFICIAL,    PROCEEDINGS 

San  Francisco,  July  18,  1903. 

Irwin   Mahon,   Esq.,    Secy.,    The    American     Mining     Congress,    Dead- 
wood,  South  Dakota,. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  kind  invitation  to  be  present 
at  the  sixth  annual  session,  to  fie  held  in  September,  and  wish  to  state 
that  I  accept  with  pleasure,  and  will  surely  attend. 

With  best  wishes,  believe  me,  Yours  very  truly, 

W.  C.  RALSTON. 
Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  July  21st,  1903. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  regret  extremely  that  I  am  unable  to  accept  the 
kind  invitation  of  the  officers  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be 
present  at  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  Congress  to  be  held  in  the 
cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between  the  7th  and  12th 
days  of  September,  1903.  Very  truly  yours, 

JOHN  KEAN,  U.  S.  S. 

To  Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,     The     American     Mining     Congress. 
Deadwood  and  Lead,  So.  Dakota. 

June  26th,  1903. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Sec.,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  your  favor  of  the  24th  and  note  your  re- 
quest for  photographs.  Very  much  do  I  regret  that  I  have  none  and 
cannot  readily  secure  photographs  suitable  for  your  purpose. 

Truly  yours, 

A.  B.  KITTREDGE. 

Wallace,  Idaho,  June  29,  1903. 
Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  yours  of  June  24tti  requesting  that  I  shall  let  you 
have  half  a  dozen  of  my  photographs,  unmounted,  for  newspaper  work. 
I  have  no  unmounted  photographs.  However,  I  send  you  a  copy  of 
my  latest  and  best  photograph,  and  I  suggest  that  you  have  a  cut 
made  of  it  for  the  several  newspapers. 

I  hope  that  you  are  progressing  nicely  with  your  preparation,  i 
am  unable  to  say  whether  I  will  be  with  you  this  year  or  not.  It  will 
depend  upon  the  courts.  Yours  truly, 

W.  B.  HEYBURN. 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  August  1,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwooft, 
S.  Dak. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  just  received  your  committee's  invitation  to 
attend  the  annual  session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  at  Dead- 
wood and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  September  7th  to  12th.  Please  be  as- 
sured of  my  appreciation  of  the  courteous  rememberance  and  my  re- 
gret at  not  being  able  to  accept  tHe  Invitation.  I  shall  be  busily  en- 
gaged, however,  at  that  time  in  our  state  campaign  and  am  compelled 
to  decline  all  invitations,  having  placed  my  time  at  the  disposal  of  our 
state  committee. 

With  best  wishes  for  a  successful  session,  I  am,  truly  yours, 

M.  A.  HANNA. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  177 

Washington,  D.  C.,  August  5,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secy.,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood, 
S.  Dak. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  thank  you  for  the  kind  invitation  to  attend  the 
sixth  annual  session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  between  the 
7th  and  12th  day*;  of  September,  and  greatly  regret  my  engagements 
are  such  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  be  present. 

Very  truly  yours, 

A.  P.  NORMAN. 

Department  of  State,  Washington,  July  13,  1903. 

Dear  Sir:  I  bave  received  the  kind  invitation  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  in  September; 
next,  and  very  much  regret  that  it  will  not  be  possible  for  me  to  avail 
myself  of  it. 

With  many  thanks,  I  am,  Yours  very  truly, 

JOHN  HAY. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Esquire,  Secretary. 

The  attorney  general  regrets  his  inability  to  accept  the  invitation 
of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  present  at  the  sixth  annual 
session,  September  7th — 12th,  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota. 

18  July.  1903. 

The  secretary  of  commerce  and  labor  regrets  his  inability  to  ac- 
cept the  courteous  invitation  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be 
present  at  its  sixth  annual  session  from  September  seventh  to  twelfth, 
1903. 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  Washington,  July  11,  1903. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  extend,  through  you,  my  thanks  to  the  Ameri- 
can Mining  Congress  for  the  invitation  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  ses- 
sion. It  would  afford  me  much  pleasure  to  accept  if  the  press  of  of- 
ficial business  did  not  prevent.  Very  truly  yours, 

JAMES  RUDOLPH  GARFIELD,  Commissioner. 

Mi.  J.  H.  Richards,  President,  American     Mining     Congress,     Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

Office  of  the  Postmaster  General,  Washington,  July  24,  1903. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Richards,  President,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  I  am  directed  by  the  postmaster-general  to  acknowledge 
receipt  of  invitation,  extended  to  him,  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  ses- 
sion of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  held  in  the  cities  of  Dead- 
wood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  from  the  7th  to  the  12th  of  September. 
1903.  inclusive. 

The  postmaster-general  appreciates  the  courtesy  of  the  invitation, 
but  desires  me  to  say  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  him  to  be  with 
you  on  that  occasion.  Very  truly  yours. 

F.  H.  WHITNEY, 
Private  Secretary. 


178  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

Department  of  the  Interior,  United  States  Geological  Survey. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  July  15,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secy.,  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood,  S.  Dak. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  in- 
vitation of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  attend  its  sixth  annual 
session  between  the  7th  and  12th  of  September,  1903. 

I  very  much  regret  that  engagements  previously  made  make  it 
impracticable  for  me  to  be  present  at  that  time. 

Very  respectfully, 
CHAS.  D.  WALCOTT,  Director. 


Honolulu,  Aug.  17th,  1903. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secy,  American  Mining   Congress,   Deadwood,  S.    D. 

Sir:  Your  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of 
the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  held  at  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South 
Dakota,  from  the  seventh  to  the  twelfth  days  of  September,  has  been 
received,  and  I  thank  you  very  sincerely  for  it. 

It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  be  present  at  your  deliberations 
but  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  be  away  from  the  territory  for  some  time 
to  come. 

Hawaii  is  not  a  mining  country  as-,  yet,  though  it  has  a  considerable 
quantity  of  iron  in  the  soil  and  evidences  of  other  metals. 

A  friend  of  mine,  Mr.  Eben  Parker  Low,  who  has  mining  interests 
in  Nevada,  is  going  to  leave  in  a  few  days  for  the  mainland,  and  I 
have  suggested  to  him  that  he  visit  the  Congress  as  my  representative. 
He  has  received  the  proposition  with  pleasure  and  will  arrange  his 
plans  to  be  present.  I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  you  to  him.  He  was 
born  and  has  grown  up  here  and  has  made  a  conspicuous  success  in 
ranching.  His  mining  interests  are  an  inheritance  from  his  father 
in  addition  to  which  he  has  taken  out  claims  himself. 

He  will  be  able  to  furnish  reliable  information  in  regard  to  this 
territory,  should  your  body  be  interested  in  hearing  from  him. 

Very  respectfully  ? 
SANFORD  B.  DOLE,  Governor. 


Siamese  Legation,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Edward  Loftus  presents  his  compliments  to  the  president  of 
the  American  Mining  Congress  and  much  regrets  that  he  is  unable 
to  give  himself  the  pleasure  of  accepting  their  kind  invitation  to  at- 
tend the  annual  session  of  the  Congress,  in  South  Dakota,  between  the 
7th  and  12th  days  of  September,  1903. 


July  24th,  1903. 


Russian  Imperial  Embassy,  Washington. 


Mr.  Hansen  begs  to  thank  the  American  Mining  Congress  for  their 
kind  invitation  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  Congress 
and  regrets  not  to  be  able  to  accept,  as  it  will  be  impossible  for  him 
to  leave  the  city  in  the  month  of  September. 

July  21st,  1903. 

THEODORE    HANSEN. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  179 

,  Siamese  Legation,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Phya  Akharaz  Varadhara,  the  Siamese  minister,  presents  his  com- 
pliments to  the  president  and  vice-presidents  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  and  much  regrets  that  his  engagements  render  it  impossible 
for  him  to  accept  their  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  ses- 
sion of  the  Congress,  between  the  7th  and  12th  days  of  September  next. 

July  24,  1903. 

The  Weirs,  N.  H.,  25  July,  1903. 

Sir:  With  reference  to  the  invitations  you  sent  for  H.  E.  von 
Holleben,  Count  Amadt,  Baron  von  Ritter,  Consul  Montgeles  and  Herr 
von  Rebear,  I  am  desired  by  H.  E.  the  German  ambassador,  Baron  von 
Sternberg,  to  let  you  know  that  all  these  gentlemen  have  left  Wash- 
ington for  good  and  will  therefore  not  be  able  to  accept  your  kind 
invitation  to  attend  the  Mining  Congress  at  Deadwood  and  Lead. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

BARON  V.  I.  BUNOKE, 
Councilor  to  the  German  Embassy. 

Castle  Hill,  Newport. 

Mr.  Agassie  regrets  extremely  that  it  is  not  in  his  power  to  accept 
the  invitation  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  attend  the  meet- 
ing to  be  held  at  Deawood  in  September. 

July  15.' 

Chinese  Legation,  Washington,  July  23,  1903. 

The  Chinese  Minister,  Sir  Chentung  Liang-Cheng,  regrets  that  the 
pressure  of  official  business  prevents  his  acceptance  of  the  invitation 
of  the  Amrican  Mining  Congress  to  attend  its  sixth  annual  session  to 
be  held  in  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between 
the  7th  and  12th  days  of  September,  1903. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Secretary,  American  Mining  Congresss,  Deadwood, 
South  Dakota. 

Manchester,  Mass.,  August  the  1st,  1903. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  most  kind  invi- 
tation forwarded  to  me  to  assist  at  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be 
held  this  year  at  Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  between  the  7th  and  12th 
of  September. 

In  a  few  days  I  shall  go  to  Europe  for  a  leave  of  absence  and  so  I 
am  very  sorry  I  shall  not  be  able  to  attend  your  important  Congress.  I 
hope,  however,  you  will  accept,  also  on  behalf  of  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  executive  committee,  my  best  thanks,  as  well  as  the  ex- 
pressions of  my  high  regards. 

THE  R.  ITALIAN  AMBASSADOR  MAYOR. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Richards,  President  of  the     American     Mining     Congress, 
Deadwood,  South  Dakota. 

Imperial  German  Embassy,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  imperial  German  embassy  presents  his  compliments  to  the 
Secretary  Irwin  Mahon  and  begs  to  inform  him  that  the  following 
gentlemen:  Herr  von  Holleben,  Count  Quadt  Wykradt  Isny,  Freiheor 
Ritter  zu  Grauenstein,  Count  von  Montgelas,  Lieut.-Com.  von  Rebeur- 
Paschwitz,  have  left  their  post. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  July  29,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
Wood,  S.  Dak. 


180  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

Legation  del  Peru,  Bay  Port,  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  July  25th,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  thank  you  and  the  representatives  of  the  Amer- 
ican Mining  Congress  for  the  honor  extended  to  me  in  the  invitation 
I  have  the  pleasure  to  answer. 

While  my  official  duties  at  Washington  will  make  it  impossible  for 
me  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Congress,  I  am  deeply  interested  in 
everything  concerning  mining,  and  I  therefore  take  the  liberty  of  ask- 
ing you  that  all  the  proceedings,  records  and  other  literature  that  will 
be  published  thereafter  be  sent  to  this  legation. 

Thanking  you  in  advance  for  your  kindness, 

Very  truly  yours, 
MANUEL  ALVAREZ  CALDERON. 

Legacion  de  Costa  Rica,  en  Washington,  July  21,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood,  South  Dakota. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  kind  in- 
vitation sent  me  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  Congress 
to  be  held  in  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between 
the  7th  and  12h  days  of  September,  1903,  and  in  answer  thereto  I 
am  very  sorry  that  notwithstanding  my  desire  I  would  not  be  able  to 
be  present  at  the  said  session. 

Thanking  you  very  much  and  all  the  other  members  of  the  com- 
mittee for  your  courtesy  I  remain,  dear  sir, 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

J.  B.  CALVO. 

Belgium  Legation,  Newport,  R.  I.,  August  the  6th,  1903. 

Dear  Sir:  I  thank  you  for  the  kind  invitation  which  you  have 
directed  to  me,  in  the  name  of  the  committee  of  the  Mining  Congress, 
which  will  meet  in  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between  the 
7th  and  12th  days  of  September,  1903.  I  would  feel  very  much  honored 
and  flattered  to  join  that  interesting  meeting  of  so  many  prominent 
men  of  this  country,  but  I  am  afraid  that  I  will  not  be  able  to  under- 
take such  a  long  journey,  and  on  that  account,  I  do  not  think  that  I  dare 
accept  your  kind  invitation. 

If  I  felt  that  I  can  avoid  that  difficulty  it  would,  indeed,  be  a  great 
pleasure  for  me  to  join  and  attend  your  most  interesting  and  dis- 
tinguished meeting. 

In  renewing  you,  and  the  members  of  the  committee  of  the  Mining 
Congress  my  best  thanks  for  the  kind  invitation  which  has  been  be- 
stowed upon  me,  I  beg  to  remain  with  my  highest  consideration, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

The  Belgian  Charge  d' Affaires, 

CHAS.  C.  WAUTERS. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary  Mining  Congress. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  181 

Chihuahua,  Agosto  18  de  1903. 

Senor    J.    H.    Richards,    President    de    Am  erican    Mining    Congress, 
Dead  wood,  South  Dakota: 

Muy  Senor  Mio:  Doy  a  Ud.  las  mas  expresivas  gracias  por  la  bondadosa 
invitacion  que  se  servia  dirigirme  para  que  como  Primer  Magistrado  de- 
este  Estado  concurra  a  la  sexta  sesion  anual  del  respetable  Congreso 
que  Ud.  dignamente  preside,  y  que  tendia  lugar  en  las  Cindades  de 
Deadwood  y  Lead,  South  Dakota,  en  los  dias  del  7  al  12  del  proximo 
mes  de  Septiembre. 

Recororco  le  grande  importancia  del  objeco  y  fines  propuestos  per 
esa  respetable  corporacion,  y  quisiera  corresponder  a  la  atencion  de 
Ud.  asistiendo  a  dischas  sesiones,  mas  como  hace  tan  poco  tiempo  que 
me  he  hecho  cargo  del  Gobierno  de  iste  Estado,  siento  positivamente 
que  los  nogeoics  publicos  de  esta  Entidad  Federativa  de  la  Republica 
Mexicana,  me  impadan  separarme  del  questo  que  ocupo. 

No  pudiendo  pues  concurriT,  por  la  raron  antes  expresada,  de  todos 
modos,  quedo  muy  obligado  por  su  flnera  y  cortsia  al  invitarme,  y 
deseandole  el  mejor  exito  a  ese  H.  Congreso,  le  suplico  que  al  aceptar 
para  si  mis  agradecimientos,  se  sirva  hacerlos  presentes  tambien  a 
los  demas  miembros  que  to  componen. 

Aprovecho  esta  ocasion  para  suscribirme  de  Ud.  afmo  atento  y  S.  S. 

LIUS  FERRAZAST. 

Chicago,  Sept.  1st,  1903. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Sec.,  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Mr.  Mahon:  The  Spanish  professor  who  usually  does  our 
translating  is  out  of  the  city  but  the  sense  of  the  inclosed  letter  Is  as 
follows: 

"Your  invitation  to  attend  the  seventh  annual  session  of  the  Amer- 
ican Congress  is  received  but  on  account  of  my  duties  as  acting  gov- 
ernor of  this  state  I  willl  be  unable  to  attend  this  meeting.  I  appre- 
ciate the  great  value  of  such  a  convention  and  would  like  very  much 
to  represent  this  state.  Express  my  kindest  regards  to  all  of  your  mem- 
bers and  your  honorable  self. 

Legation  of  Japan,  Washington,  September  3,  1903. 

Sir:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  cordial  invitation 
to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress 
to  be  held  shortly.  While  appreciating  very  highly  your  courtesy  in 
this  matter,  I  greatly  regret  that  my  official  duties  will  not  permit 
my  absence  from  this  city  for  availing  myself  of  your  invitation. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

MUTSU. 

P.  S.  Owing  to  my  absence  from  Washington  for  the  last  two 
months  I  was  unable  to  reply  to  your  favor  earlier. 

President  J.  H.  Richards,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood, 
South  Dakota. 


182  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

Melrose  Cottage,  Narragansett  Pier,  R.  I.,  September  6,  1903. 
American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota. 

Gentlemen:  Thanking  you  heartily  for  the  kind  invitation  you 
sent  my  predecessor,  Baron  Farsen,  I  regret  to  say  it  is  quite  impos- 
sible for  me,  his  successor,  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the 
Congress  this  year. 

Hoping  the  session  will  be  successful,  I  beg  to  remain, 

Yours  truly, 

A.  J.  BOUNTAKOFF, 
Commander  Russian  Navy. 

New  York,  July  13,  1903. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,   Secretary,  American  Mining     Congress.       D"ead- 
wood,  South  Dakota. 

Dear  Sir:  The  invitation  so  kindly  extended  to  Judge  Henry 
M.  Goldfogle  has  duly  come  to  hand. 

Inasmuch  as  Judge  Goldfogle  sailed  for  Europe  on  July  7th,  I  can 
only  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  invitation  and  say  that  the  invi- 
tation will  be  brought  to  his  attention  at  the  first  opportunity. 

Very  truly  yours, 

CHAS.  J.  OLEN,  Secy. 

Athens,  Ohio,  July  13,  1903. 
Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Sec.,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  polite  invi- 
tation, just  received,  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  Mining 
Congress. 

I  shall  be  absent  from  the  United  States,  I  think,  at  the  time,  and 
hence  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  attend,  but  none  the  less  I  feel 
a  deep  interest  in  the  success  and  welfare  of  your  organization. 

With  kind  regards.  Yours  truly, 

C.  H.  GROSVENOR. 

Oakland,  Cal.,  July  13th,  1903. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  invitation  to 
Mr.  Metcalf  to  attend  the  meeting  of  your  Congress.  Mr.  Metcalf  is 
away  from  home  upon  his  vacation  at  this  time  and  will  be  gone  for 
several  weeks.  On  his  return  I  shall  call  his  attention  to  your  polite 
invitation,  which  I  am  sure  he  will  greatly  appreciate,  not  being  able 
to  attend  personally  the  sessions  of  your  Congress,  I  am, 

Yours  sincerely, 
FRED  M.  CAMPBELL,  Secretary.^ 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood, 
South  Dakota. 

San  Francisco,  Cal.,  July  13,  1903. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Secretary  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood, 
South  Dakota. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
kind  invitation  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress  to  be  held  in  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead.  SoutB 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  183 

Dakota,  between  the  7th  and  12th  of  September,  1903.  Owing  to  a 
previous  important  engagement  for  those  dates,  it  will  be  impossible 
for  me  to  attend.  This  I  regret  very  much,  as  I  most  cordially  ap- 
prove the  aims  of  the  Mining  Congress  and  should  take  great  pleasure 
in  attending. 

Thanking  you  for  your  kind  invitation  and  regretting  my  in- 
ability to  accept  the  same,  I  remain,  Very  sincerely  yours, 

WILLIAM  J.  WYNN,  M.  C. 

/ 

Richmond,  Virginia,  July  14,  1903. 

Honorable  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  The  American  Mining  Congress, 
Deadwood,  South  Dakota. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  the  very 
cordial  invitation,  extended  by  the  officers  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  on  its  behalf  to  attend  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  Con- 
gress, September  next.  I  deeply  regret  that  my  engagements  are 
such  that  it  will  be  impossible  Tor  me  to  be  present  on  this  occasion. 

We  are  undoubtedly  living  in  the  metallic  age,  and  the  mining 
industries  of  our  country  have  doubtless  contributed  more  than  any 
of  the  other  resources  of  the  country  to  the  unprecedented  develop- 
ment and  prosperity  of  the  nation.  Such  a  Congress  as  is  contemplated 
by  the  officers  of  your  organization  will  inevitably  be  productive  of 
great  good  to  the  material  interests  of  the  nation  at  large,  and  should 
receive  the  encouragement  of  all  our  people. 

With  assurances  of  my  high  consideration,  and  appreciation  of 
your  cordial  invitation,  I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

JOHN  LAMB,  M.  C. 

Newark,  July  14,  1903. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Secy.,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood, 
South  Dakota. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  thank  you  and  the  members  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress  for  their  kind  invitation  to  attend  their  sixth  annual 
session  to  be  held  in  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota, 
on  September  7th  to  12th  Inclusive,  and  regret  very  much  that  other 
engagements  will  prevent  my  acceptance. 

With  best  regards  and  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  session, 
believe  me,  .  Yours  sincerely, 

R.  WAYNE  PARKER. 

Norristown,  Pa.,  July  14,  1903. 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  President,  Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Secretary,  Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

Gentlemen:  The  courteous  invitation  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  to  its  sixth  annual  session  to  Be  held  in  Deadwood  and  Lead, 
S.  D.,  7th-12th  September,  1903,  is  at  hand  and  I  should  be  delighted 
to  attend  but  it  will  probably  not  be  possible  for  me  to  do  so  in  con- 
sequence of  the  demands  of  public  and  private  business. 

With  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  the  session  and  of  the  enter- 
prising cities  in  which  it  is  to  meet.  Yours  very  respectfully, 

IRVING  P.  WANGER. 


184  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

Albuquerque,  N.  M.,  July  16,  1903. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Secretary,  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood, 
South  Dakota. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  kind  invitation  to  attend 
the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  held  in  the  cities  of  Deadwood 
and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between  the  7th  and  12th  of  September,  1903, 
inclusive. 

I  return  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  same,  and  assure  you  I  take 
great  interest  in  the  Congress,  and  it  will  be  a  pleasure  for"  me  to 
attend  if  I  can,  which  is  doubtful. 

I  am  engaged  in  making  the  fight  for  the  admission  of  New  Mexico 
to  the  union,  our  bill  having  been  talked  to  death  last  session  of  Con- 
gress, but  we  intend  to  renew  it  immediately.  I  will  be  under  great 
obligation,  Mr.  Mahon,  even  if  I  don't  attend  the  Congress,  if  you 
will  cause  a  resolution  to  be  introduced  and  passed  in  the  Congress 
favoring  the  immediate  admission  to  the  union  as  states  of  New 
Mexico,  Oklahoma  and  Arizona.  The  West  is  our  friend  in  this  mat- 
ter, and  the  West  should  make  its  demands  known.  I  will  be  thankful 
if  you  will  take  a  note  of  the  matter  for  action  at  the  proper  time. 

With  assurances  of  my  highest  regard,  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Sincerely  yours, 

B.  S.  RODEY. 

49  East  19th  St.,  New  York,  July  16th,  1903. 
Irwin  Mahon,  Sec'y  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  kind  invita- 
tion to  attend  the  American  Mining  Congress,  to  be  held  at  Deadwood 
and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between  the  7th  and  12th  days  of  September. 
1903. 

Would  say  that  your  organization  is  one  that  I  take  much  interest 
in,  for  the  reason  that  I  have  been  superintendent  of  a  mine  in  former 
years,  and  am  a  member  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engi- 
neers. But  I  regret  that  on  account  of  business  reasons,  and  serious 
illness  in  my  family,  I  will  not  be  able  to  attend  the  coming  meeting, 
but  I  hope  to  meet  with  them  at  a  future  time.  I  appreciate  your 
courtesy  in  sending  me  the  invitation  and  remain,  Yours  truly, 

WM.  H.  WILEY, 
Member  of  Congress,  8th  Dist,  New  Jersey. 

Ashland,  Pa.,  July  16th,  1903. 
Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Sec'y,  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  invitation  to  attend  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  Mining  Congress,  and  regret  that  it  will  be  im- 
possible for  me  to  be  present.  Yours  truly, 

GEO.  R.  PATTERSON,  12th  Pa. 

Bradford,  Pa,  July  16th,  1903. 

Dear  Sir:  I  regret  that  pressing  business  engagements  will  not 
permit  me  to  accept  your  very  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  sixth  an- 
nual session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

Thanking  you  for  the  invitation,  I  am,        Very  truly  yours, 

S.  R.  DRESSER. 
Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  Deadwood,  South  Dakota. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  185 

Fall  River,  Mass.,  July  17,  1903. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Secy.,  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood,  So. 
Dakota. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  thank  you  for  the  invitation  to  attend  the  sixth 
annual  session  of  the  Congress,  but  regret  that  business  engagements 
at  that  time  will  prevent  my  acceptance.  Yours  respectfully, 

WM.  C.  GREENE. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  July  21,  1903. 

J.  H.  Richards,  President,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Deadwood, 
South  Dakota. 

Dear  Sir:  I  acknowledge  herewith  receipt  of  an  artistic  invita- 
tion to  be  present  at  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress,  to  be  held  between  the  7th  and  12th  of  September,  in  the 
cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota.  It  will  be  quite  impos- 
sible for  me  to  attend,  which  I  very  much  regret.  But  I  shall  certainly 
be  there  in  spirit,  for  I  appreciate  the  fact  that  such  congresses  do 
much  for  the  industry  of  mining,  to  which  the  West  owes  so  much  of 
its  prosperity. 

Thanking  you  for  the  invitation,  and  with  best  wishes  for  a  bene- 
ficial session,  I  remain,  Yours  very  truly, 

JOSEPH  HOWELL.   . 

Milton,  Pa.,  July  21st,  1903. 

Mr.  J.  H,  Richards,  President,  The  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  invitation  to  attend 
the  American  Mining  Congress  at  Deadwood,  S.  D.,  between  the  7th 
and  12th  days  of  September,  1903,  inclusive.  I  regret  very  much  that 
imperative  engagements  will  prevent  my  acceptance  of  your  kind  in- 
vitation. Yours  very  truly, 

*  C.  H.  DIEHLMAN. 

Riverside,  Cal.,  July  24th,  1903. 
Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  Pres.,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  Replying  to  your  kind  invitation  of  recent  date,  beg 
to  say  that  I  regret  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  be  in  Deadwood 
and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  to  attend  the  session  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  in  September  next.  Assuring  you  of  my  interest  in  the  work 
of  the  Congress,  I  remain,  Yours  very  sincerely, 

M.  J.  DANIELS. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  July  24th,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  Dead- 
wood,  South  Dakota. 

Dear  Sir:  In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Burton  in  Europe,  I  am  in  receipt 
o£  your  communication,  requesting  Mr.  Burton's  attendance  with  you 
upon  the  occasion  of  the  sixth  annual  session  of  the  Mining  Congress 
in  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between  the  7th 
and  12th  days  of  September,  1903,  inclusive. 


186  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

Mr.  Burton  does  not  expect  to  return  from  Europe  until  October 
first,  which  makes  it  quite  impossible  for  him  to  join  with  you  on 
this  occasion.  Very  truly  yours, 

JAS.  H.  CASSIDY,  Private  Secretary. 
Walden,  New  York,  July  29,  1903. 

Mr.  Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary,  American  Mining  Congress,   Deadwood, 
S.  Dakota. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  an  invita- 
tion extended  by  tlie  American  Mining  Congress  for  dates  between 
September  7th  and  12th. 

Prior  engagements  prevent  my  acceptance. 

With  thanks  and  regrets,  Very  truly  yours, 

THOS.  W.  BRADLEY,  M.  C. 

Telluride,  Colo.,  July  30,  1903. 
Irwin  Mahon,  Secy.,  Deadwood,  S.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  I  wish  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  invitation  to  attend 
the  American  Mining  Congress  to  be  held  at  Deadwood  in  September. 
Unfortunately  my  affairs  are  in  such  shape  that  it  will  be  impossible 
for  me  to  attend.  Thanking  you  for  your  kind  courtesy  and  trusting 
that  great  good  may  come  from  the  meetings  of  the  Congress,  and 
assuring  you  of  my  hearty  accord  with  the  objects  of  the  meeting,  I 
remain,  Yours  sincerely, 

H.  M.  HOGG. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Aug,  10,  1903. 

My  Dear  Sir:  Mr.  McClellan  is  now  traveling  abroad,  and  will 
not  return  in  time  to  accept  the  most  courteous  invitation  of  the  Amer- 
ican Mining  Congress  to  attend  its  sixth  annual  convention  to  be  held 
in  the  cities  of  Deadwood  and  Lead,  South  Dakota,  between  September 
7th  and  12th.  Yours  very  truly, 

WADE  M.  SPELSHOUSE,  Private  Secretary. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Esq.,  Secretary,  Deadwood*,  S.  Dakota. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  Your  committee  on  nomi- 
nations would  like  to  make  their  report  at  this  time.  We  called  the 
committee  together  last  night  at  8  o'clock  in  the  Franklin  Hotel,  which 
consisted  of  the  Honorable  John  T.  Grayson,  Colonel  George,  Mr.  Rine- 
hart,  Judge  O.  E.  Jackson,  of  Boise,  Idaho,  and  your  humble  servant, 
Mr.  Patterson.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  meeting.  We  took  the  mat- 
ter up  without  any  prejudices  or  biases,  without  anybody  to  punish  or 
anyone  to  favor,  with  the  sole  object  in  view,  that  being  the  good  of 
the  American  Mining  Congress.  There  was  not  one  member  of  the 
committee  who  desired  office,  no  one  hinted  at  such  a  thing,  which  is 
a  little  unusual;  the  sole  object  and  thought  of  the  meeting  and  the  L 
spirit  of  the  meeting  was  how  can  we  advance  the  interests  of  the 
American  Mining  Congress  and  make  it  one  of  the  most  interesting 
conventions  that  may  be  called  together  from  year  to  year.  We  talked 
it  all  over  pro  and  con.  We  talked  over  the  past  and  present  officers, 
those  of  us  who  knew  them.  I  did  not  have  the  pleasure  myself  of 
knowing  them  all  except  at  this  meeting  and  it  seemed  to  be  the  uni- 
versal wish  of  the  committee  from  their  various  reports  that  they  had 
gathered  from  the  other  members  of  the  Congress  that  our  present 
president,  Mr.  Richards,  should  be  named  as  a  director  (applause)  and 
also  that  we  should  recommend  and  present  his  name  to  your  hon- 
orable body  for  the  next  president  of  the  Congress.  (Applause). 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  187 

There  is  only  one  name  on  the  list  of  directors  and  officers  that 
I  have  any  objections  to  and  I  voted  against  him  but  the  committee 
being  the  majority  have  overruled  my  vote  and  I  was  obliged  of  course 
to  submit  to  their  wishes  or  make  a  minority  report,  so  I  submit 
herewith  the  report  of  the  committee  which  was  unanimous  with  the 
exception  of  the  one  name,  which  you  will  probably  recognize  as  you 
hear  it  read.  The  gentleman  named  was  a  member  of  the  committee 
and  he  voted  otherwise  all  the  way  through,  so  I  beg,  Mr.  President 
and  members  of  the  Congress,  to  make  the  following  report. 

(The  report  was  read). 

With  these  names  I  submit  the  report,  Mr.  President,  and  the 
committee  asks  to  be  discharged. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Of  course,  any  member  will  under- 
stand that  this  is  simply  a  recommendation.  You  have  a  right  to  dis- 
pose of  the  report  as  any  other  report  and  change  or  substitute  other 
names  as  the  Congress  may  deem  proper  at  the  right  time. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Under  the  rules  does  this 
report  have  to  be  acted  on  at  2  o'clock? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  My  recollection  of  the  by-laws  is  it 
comes,  up  after  lunch.  The  selection  of  place  of  meeting  is  at  2 
o'clock  and  the  election  of  officers  immediately  following. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  would  move,  as  the 
weather  is  bad  arid  some  delegates  want  to  get  away  this  afternoon, 
to  suspend  the  rules  and  immediately  proceed  to  act  on  the  report  of 
the  committee  on  nominations. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  With  all  due  deference 
to  the  motion,  t  will  object  to  it  on  the  ground  that  it  may  be  taking 
a  precedent  for  some  future  time  and  this  is  the  first  of  our  morning 
hours  of  this  meeting  and  many  delegates  are  not  present  who  have 
a  right  to  be  present  and  this  is  one  of  the  matters  which  is  named  in 
our  by-laws  to  be  disposed  of  at  a  special  hour  and  at  a  special  time, 
and  for  those  reasons,  not  with  any  objection  at  all  to  the  nominations 
or  with  any  idea  of  delaying  matters,  I  certainly  hope  that  motion 
will  not  prevail. 

MR.  GRAYSON,  OF  OREGON:  I  would  like  to  say  I  concur  in 
Mr.  Russell's  idea.  I  believe  that  this  matter  should  be  postponed 
until  after  the  place  of  holding  the  next  meeting  is  selected.  I  believe 
the  election  of  officers  should  be  after  the  other  matters  are  disposed 
of,  anyhow. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  With  the  consent  of  my 
second  I  will  withdraw  the  motion. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  The  committee  on  resolu- 
tions have  one  other  resolution  which  has  been  reported  to  it  for  con- 
sideration. The  resolution  is  by  Mr.  Dignowity  upon  the  subject  of 
"Better  protection  of  the  Lives  of  Miners"  and  the  committee  has 
prepared  a  substitute  embodying  the  same  purpose  which  they  report 
favorably  . 

The  resolution  was  read. 

MR.  EDE,  OF  ILLINOIS:  Mr.  President,  I  have  another  resolu- 
tion if  it  is  in  order. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  think  it  is  rather  unnecessary 
to  present  that  in  the  form  of  a  resolution.  I  think  if  it  were  in  the 
form  of  a  motion  it  would  be  sufficient,  simply  making  a  motion  that 
the  secretary  be  requested  to  have  the  proofs  of  the  papers  and  ad- 


188  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

dresses  which  have  been  presented  before  this  Congress  sent  to  the 
persons  who  gave  those  addresses  and  papers,  before  they  are  pub- 
lished in  the  proceedings,  and  have  the  proofs  sent  to  the  persons 
delivering  the  papers  and  addresses.  Heretofore  these  proofs  have 
not  been  sent  to  the  individuals  giving  the  papers  and  addresses  and 
it  has  been  customary  in  all  publications  to  have  this  done. 

MR.  EDE,  OF  ILLINOIS:  I  will  consent  to  put  it  in  the  form  of 
a  motion. 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:     I  will  second  the  motion. 

The  motion  as  follows  was  stated  by  the  president  and  duly 
carried : 

That  the  secretary  be  and  hereby  is  instructed  to  send  proofs  of 
papers  and  addresses  to  all  persons  presenting  such  papers  and  ad- 
dresses before  tlie  same  are  published  in  the  proceedings  of  this 
Congress. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  would  move  the  adop- 
tion of  the  substitute  resolution  recommended  by  the  committee  on 
resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  the  better  protection  of  the  lives  of 
miners. 

COLONEL  GRAYSON,  OF  OREGON:  I  second  tfie  motion. 
The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 
At  this  time  opportunity  was  given  all  persons  interested  to  be- 
come members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

MR.  COLLINS,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:     I  have  a  resolution  here 
that  I  would  like  to  have  read  to  the  meeting. 
The  motion  was  read. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Do  you  wish  it  in  the  form  of  a  mo- 
tion or  resolution? 

MR.  COLLINS,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  will  make  it  in  the 
form  of  a  motion. 

The  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr,  Elder  of  South  Dakota. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that 
the  directors  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  be  instructed  to  pre- 
pare a  button  to  be  worn  by  the  active  members  of  this  Congress  and 
to  turn  it  over  to  such  members  upon  terms  fixed  by  the  board  of 
directors. 

The  motion  was  carried. 

MR.  JACKSON,  OF  IDAHO:  Mr.  President,  upon  Tuesday  last 
the  chair,  by  order  of  the  Congress,  appointed  a  committee  to  draft  a 
resolution  of  thanks  to  the  president  of  the  United  States  for  send- 
ing his  representative  to  this  Congress.  Owing  to  my  illness  yester- 
day I  was  unable  to  report  but  desire  to  do  so  now.  I  will  read  the 
report  of  the  committee  and  also  the  resolution. 

The  report  and  resolution  of  the  committee  was  read,  which  is 
as  follows: 

It  was  moved  by  Colonel  George  and  seconded  by  Colonel  Gray- 
son  that  the  Mining  Congress  adopt  the  resolution  by  rising  vote, 
which  .motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  unanimously  carried. 

COLONEL  GRAYSON,  OF  OREGON:  As  resolutions  are  in  or- 
der I  move  you  that  we  extend  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Homestake 
Mining  Company  for  the  courtesy  extended  this  Congress  in  allowing 
this  Congress  an  opportunity  to  visit  their  great  mine. 

MR.  O.  P.  TH.  GRANTZ,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  second  the 
motion. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  189 

The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  There  have  been  some 
new  members  come  in  since  we  had  a  little  social  talk  here  a  while 
ago.  They  might  desire  to  be  informed  of  what  has  been  going  on  and 
I  should  not  feel  like  slighting  them.  They  might  be  offended  and 
I  would  like,  Mr.  President,  that  you  tell  them  what  has  been  done. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  question  that  has  been  considered 
f«,-r  a  short  time  this  morning  is  the  question  of  membership.  I  think 
I  know  the  mining  men  of  the  West.  I  have  worked  with  them  in 
the  mines,  I  have  chopped  wood  with  them  on  the  mountain  tops — 
I  have  slept  with  them  on  the  mountain  side,  simply  lulled  to  sleep 
by  the  music  of  the  pines  tf-nd  nothing  to  guide  us  but  the  silent  stars 
in  our  slumber.  I  know  those  mining  men.  I  have  met  them  every- 
where. When  I  meet  mining  men  like  Jack  Gray  or  Colonel  Ewing, 
my  heart  goes  right  out  to  them.  I  understand  them  because  I  have 
labored  with  them,  lived  with  them,  endured  hardships  with  them, 
invested  my  money  with  them — that  never  came  back.  These  are 
the  types  of  the  Western  mining  man  and  no  just  cause  was  ever  ap- 
pealed to  them  without  a  wholesome  response.  The  question  in  my 
mind  is  how  to  get  before  that  class  of  mining  men  the  aims  and  pur 
poses  of  this  Congress  that  we  might  get  their  sympathy.  With  their 
sympathy  I  know  what  the  future  of  this  Congress  would  be  and  for 
a  long  time  I  have  been  studying  the  question  of  how  to  reach  such 
men  at  Mr.  Gray  and  Mr.  Ewing  and  the  many  others  like  them.  When 
we  get  their  sympathy  and  support  I  know  the  future  of  this  Congress 
is  going  to  have  a  mighty  influence  in  placing  mining  on  the  proper 
plane  and  making  it  take  its  place  among  the  great  industries  of  the 
country.  If  you  can  tell  me  in  any  way  that  I  can  reach  that  class  of 
men  then  everything  looks  well  for  the  future.  I  am  willing  to  do  all 
I  can  to  reach  that  class  of  men  because  1  know  them — when  we  reach 
them  I  know  we  will  get  their  support.  I  have  been  thinking  of  these 
mining  men  and  as  to  how  we  can  reach  them  and  elevate  the  industry 
of  mining,  because  I  see  that  there  is  an  opportunity  for  the  West 
when  I  see  the  great  financial  interests  that  are  reaching  across  the 
Pacific.  This  Western  country  is  going  to  be  the  center,  the  pivot 
of  the  greatest  industrial  development  ever  seen  during  the  next 
twenty-five  years  and  out  of  it  are  going  to  come  up  in  this  Western 
country  the  Western  mining  men  that  will  take  a  large  part  in  direct- 
ing that  development.  We  desire  to  appeal  to  them  to  give  us  their 
support  by  becoming  members  of  this  Congress.  The  first  thing  we 
can  do  in  a  body  of  this  kind  is  to  make  ourselves  first  respectable, 
then  honorable,  so  that  it  will  be  a  badge  of  honor  to  any  man  who 
becomes  a  member  of  the  Congress.  In  watching  the  great  contest 
that  is  going  on  between  labor  and  capital  it  strikes  me  that  I  see 
one  great  weakness. of  the  labor  organizations.  My  heart  is  in  sym- 
pathy with  their  efforts  in  every  department  but  I  would  help  them 
and  not  hinder  them.  One  of  the  great  weaknesses  of  the  miners' 
federation  is  that  it  is  ceasing  to  be  an  honor  to  be  a  member  of  that 
organization.  When  you  see  a  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers 
you  see  one  of  the  greatest  labor  organizations  this  world  has  ever 
seen.  It  is  a  badge  of  honor  to  be  a  member  of  that  organization. 
When  the  mining  federation  see  to  it  that  it  becomes  an  honor  to  be- 
come a  member  of  that  body  then  they  will  have  power  and  truly  re- 
present the  interests  of  labor  and  not  until  then  in  my  judgment,  and 
I  state  this  merely  as  a  suggestion  to  the  mining  organizations  that 
they  may  look  to  it  to  have  quality  a  question  in  their  organizations 
rather  than  quantity  and  we  must  do  the  same.  Therefore  we  want 
the  mining  men.  If  this  Congress  is  ever  going  to  succeed  it  will  be 
because  the  miners  make  it  a  success  and  when  they  make  it  a  suc- 
cess the  capitalists  will  come  in  for  admission  at  its  doors  and  not 
until  then.  It  is  not  capital  that  ever  leads  the  way  into  great  de- 
velopment; it  is  the  individual.  You  have  the  great  Homestake  mine 


190  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

here.  It  was  not  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  world  by  capital  but 
by  the  miner  that  did  the  work  in  that  great  Homestake.  It  was  his 
faith  that  gave  the  Homestake  to  the  world  and  not  capital.  Capital 
came  in  after  the  miner  had  demonstrated  the  wealth  of  that  great 
mine  and  it  is  true  of  this  Congress,  and  it  will  be  the  miner  who  will 
demonstrate  the  worth  of  this  Congress,  and  when  it  does  capital  will 
come  to  its  doors  for  admission,  for  it  will  find  it  to  its  interests,  and 
in  that  spirit  we  want  the  miners  of  this  Western  country  to  join  this 
Congress,  give  us  the  support  of  membership,  that  we  may  have  dig- 
nity added  to  it  by  such  membership,  and  it  is  upon  that  plane  that  I 
would  appeal  to  you. 

I  would  like  to  have  had  time  to  have  prepared  a  careful  address 
on  that  line.  This  has  simply  come  as  a  spontaneous  thought  of  the 
moment  but  in  it  is  the  kernel  of  our  success  in  my  judgment,  and  when 
another  year  has  come  around  I  may  be  able  at  that  time  to  more 
carefully  suggest  to  the  miners  of  the  West  some  thoughts  along  this 
line.  I  believe  we  are  going  to  reach  those  miners  and  every  miner 
that  is  in  sympathy  with  us  should  send  his  name  to  the  secretary  and 
ask  to  become  a  member  of  this  Congress.  I  have  never  been  treated 
so  generously  and  so  kindly  in  my  life  as  I  have  by  miners.  I  have 
been  entertained  in  the  palaces  of  the  rich  but  I  never  knew  what 
true  hospitality  was  until  I  stepped  across  the  threshold  of  the  miner 
in  his  cabin.  I  found  there  nothing  but  mother  earth  for  a  carpet, 
nothing  but  boughs  for  his  couch  and  nothing  but  hope  to  lift  him 
above  the  struggles  of  every  day,  but  there  was  true  hospitality.  I 
knew  I  was  welcome  to  the  best  that  he  had  on  earth.  Those  are 
the  men  that  we  want  and  it  is  by  meeting  these  men  in  these  cabins 
in  the  West  and  having  them  become  members  that  you  are  going  to 
make  this  Congress  a  success.  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  of  that.  I 
came  here  without  any  desire  to  express  my  conviction  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  place  of  meeting,  but  the  more  that  I  have  heard  the  more 
I  have  thought  in  the  inception  or  starting  out  of  this  Congress  it 
must  be  cradled  in  the  arms  of  the  miner  if  you  are  going  to  make 
a  success.  That  is  my  hope  and  that  will  be  my  ambition. 

MR.  DRAKE,  OF  OREGON:  Nearly  all  of  these  gentlemen  pre- 
sent have  had  some  of  the  same  experiences  you  have  just  expressed 
with  regard  to  miners  and  I  would  move  now  that  the  gentlemen  and 
ladies  present  stand  up  and  give  three  cheers  for  the  sentiments  that 
our  president  has  so  well  expressed  and  which  concur  with  our  ideas. 

Which  was  given. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  further  business 
matters  at  this  hour  we  will  recur  to  the  postponed  paper  by  Mr.  C. 
L.  Dignowity,  of  Boulder,  Colorado. 

MR.  C.  L.  DIGNOWITY:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
As  a  preface  to  my  paper  I  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks.  In  the 
first  place  I  wish  to  cheerfully  co-operate  and  acquiesce  in  the  senti- 
ments expressed  by  our  worthy  president  here  this  morning  in  regard 
to  our  Congress  and  its  future.  I  have  been  engaged  in  mining  for  a 
good  many  years.  My  vocation  has  been  that  from  Alaska  to  Central 
America  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  in  search  of  gold  and 
silver  mines  and  other  mining  properties  for  the  last  fifteen  years  in 
the  interests  of  Eastern  investors.  In  doing  so  it  has  given  me  an 
opportunity  to  visit  all  the  mining  properties  of  interest  to  the  mining 
sections  throughout  that  broad  territory  and  I  have  listened  here  with 
a  great  deal  of  interest  to  the  worthy  and  able  papers  by  those  emi- 
nent gentlemen  that  have  preceded  me  here  in  their  discouses  and 
papers  on  the  Black  Hills,  which  have  given  me  a  great  deal  of  knowl- 
edge in  that  line,  and  I  have  made  it  a  rule  to  attend  every  mining  Con- 
gress that  I  possibly  could  in  order  to  gain  information.  I  have  at- 
tended five  of  these  Congresses  and  have  been  a  member  and  done  all 
I  could  for  it.  In  my  paper  here  it  is  somewhat  broad  and  covers 
a  good  deal  of  territory,  not  only  the  gold  fields  of  North  Carolina  but 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  191 

taking  in  all  of  the  Eastern  range  as  well  as  Western  interests.  While 
I  have  no  personal  interest  whatever  financially  in  the  Eastern  fields 
my  labor  and  my  interests  as  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned  have 
all  been  confined  to  California,  Nevada,  Utah  and  Colorado,  where  I 
have  had  large  mining  interests,  but  we  can  go  back  to  our  boyhood 
days  and  we  will  remember  that  there  are  several  mountain  ranges 
upon  this  continent,  one  of  which  is  in  the  Eastern  section  of  the 
United  States.  Throughout  that  mountain  range  exists  mineral  fields 
of  all  classes,  more  particularly  on  the  eastern  slope  and  there  is  where 
I  will  confine  my  subject. 

GOLD  FIELDS  OF  THE  EAST  AND  THEIR  LOW  GRADE  ORES. 
WESTERN  COMPARISONS  AND  ITS  VARIOUS  ABUSES 

Mr.  President  and  Members:  Much  valuable  information  has 
been  presented  to  this  Mining  Congress  regarding  these  Black  Hills, 
their  geological  formation  and  richness  of  mineral  deposits,  by  the 
able  geologists  and  mining  men  preceding  me.  I  am  surprised  at  the 
lack  of  papers  representing  other  sections  of  our  great  American 
mining  districts.  As  we  are  gathered  here  to  learn,  and  expound  all 
we  can  for  the  general  good  and  development  of  the  mining  interests, 
we  must  recognize  all  fields.  These  Black  Hills  cover  but  a  small 
section  of  the  vast  mineral  territory  of  our  country.  Therefore,  I 
shall  take  for  my  subject  those  vast  gold  deposits  of  the  Atlantic  coast 
range  that  are  waiting  for  intelligent  mining  to  bring  to  the  productive 
stage. 

Many  of  the  eminent  geologists  and  minerologists  will  support  me 
in  my  claim;  that  abundance  of  gold  in  its  various  forms,  is  known  to 
exist  along  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  making  its  greatest 
deposits  in  North  Carolina. 

After  twenty-five  years  of  active  mining  life  in  all  its  branches, 
given  to  the  West  and  Old  Mexico,  one  feels  as  if  he  could  pass  judg- 
ment upon  the  large  mineral  zones  of  this  continent  as  well  as  on  some 
of  the  serious  abuses  connected  with  mining  in  America. 

Of  late  years  ,my  attention  and  labors  have  been  called  to  the  East- 
ern and  Southern  gold  fields,  and  I  shall  try  to  present  their  conditions 
as  found. 

The  records  of  compiled  mining  testimony  at  Washington,  D.  C., 
covering  Virginia,  No-rth  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  are  accessible 
to  any  desiring  information  upon  these  subjects.  The  Southern  states 
will  gladly  send  compiled  mineral  data,  free  of  charge,  to  anyone 
upon  application;  which  reports  will  show  as  great  if  not  greater,  gold 
deposits,  in  the  same  area,  along  the  middle  Atlantic  slope,  as  is  found 
in  the  West,  a  fact  not  realized  by  the  majority  of  the  Western"  mining 
fraternity,  and  which  is  worthy  of  their  investigation.  Gold  was  dis- 
covered in  Virginia  in  1782  and  in  North  Carolina  in  1793.  Prior  to" 
1848  the  gold  production  of  this  country  all  came  from  the  East, 
principally  from  North  Carolina;  that  state  alone  producing  all  our 
gold  up  to  1827.  A  nugget,  history  tells,  was  found  in  this  state  in 
1792  that  weighed  seventeen  pounds  and  many  more  since  of  smaller 
sizes. 

That  human  nature  has  not  changed  since  the  rush  for  the  gold 
fields  of  California  in  1849,  is  quite  evident,  for  today  as  then  the 
distant  fields  seem  the  greener  and  more  enchanting.  Miners  and 
raining  talent  flocked  from  the  Eastern  fields,  westward.  Investors  and 
money  followed.  Some  succeeded,  others  failed;  and  were  unable  to 
get  work.  History  repreats  itself.  We  know  today  how  good  fields 
are  abandoned  to  follow  a  rumor,  and  begin  the  mad  chase  of  the 
will-o'-the-wisp.  So  the  South  became  a  neglected  field  by  the  rest- 
less miner,  and  was  soon  absorbed  by  the  planter.  Slave  labor  and  a 
virgin  soil  made  cotton  and  other  products  yield  such  handsome  profits 
to  the  planter  that  the  gold  treasury  vaults  were  soon  plowed  over 
and  quickly  neglected.  The  South  offered  no  inducement  to  the 
prospector. 


192  OFFICIAL,    PROCEEDINGS 

We  know  the  prospector  and  his  shyness  of  ready  cash.  Unless 
GRUB  STAKED  by  some  prosperous  investor,  his  vacation  is  a  hard 
one.  The  Southern  gold  fields  now  passed  into  rich  plantations,  and 
it  took  too  much  money  to  acquire  land,  therefore  fne  PROSPECTOR 
was  doomed. 

Quite  different  was  it  in  the  West.  Uncle  Sam,  with  his  large 
and  ever  generous* heart,  offered  his  public  domain  to  those  seeking  to 
civilize  and  develop  it,  and  also  gave  most  liberal  inducements  to  the 
prospectors.  Surveyors,  geologists,  and  scientific  men  were  put  to 
work; — maps  and  other  data  were  compiled  at  government  expense, 
and  all  given  to  the  gold  seekers  free  of  cost.  Soon  the  West  was  ablaze 
with  prosperity.  Time  rolled  on  until  the  sad  civil  war  brought  wreck 
and  ruin  to  the  South.  Investments  there  ceased  entirely,  and  has 
only  begun  again  within  the  last  few  years. 

Today  money  is  flowing  southward  as  never  before  and  is  build- 
ing up  every  kind  of  industry.  So  it  now  behooves  the  mining  man  to 
follow  the  van,  and  bring  forth  the  hidden  gold  from  those  vast  mineral 
zones  and  reefs. 

The  Eastern  formation  of  the  Appalachian  range  of  mountains  ex- 
hibits one  continual  belt  from  Virginia  to  Alabama,  or  red,  brown  and 
yellow  slate  and  schists.  Argillacrous  and  micaceous  in  origin.  With 
no  mountains  or  great  uplifts  or  distorted  formation  like  those  of  the 
Black  Hills,  Rockies  or  Sierra  Nevada  Ranges. 

This  belt  consists  of  low  rolling  hills  quite  soft,  and  decomposed 
above  the  water  line.  The  Oxidized  ores  in  this  Southern  country  can 
be  worked  today  under  our  advanced  methods  at  good  profits,  with 
gold  valued  as  low  as  $3  a  ton.  If  the  same  quantities  of  ores  and  val- 
ues can  be  made  to  pay  large  profits  at  the  great  Homestake  mine, 
that  has  yielded  over  $80,000,000 — independent  of  its  kindred  institu- 
tions, why  not,  in  those  Eastern  fields  under  more  favorable  conditions  ? 

I  have  learned  by  personal  investigation,  and  from  the  able  papers 
and  illustrations,  presented  at  this  Mining  Congresis  by  the  various 
geologists  and  mining  men  that  these  Black  Hills  slates  and  schist's 
and  other  rocks  are  identical  with  those  of  North  Carolina  and  the 
Eastern  Appalachian  mountain  range,  and  likewise  the  gold  deposi- 
tion therein. 

The  old  mint  records  from  the  South  shows  that  gold  in  abundance 
was  produced  under  the  most  primitive  methods,  by  the  old  Spanish 
drag  mill  (arrastra)  hand  rocker,  (wooden  troughs)  Chilian  mills 
(round  rockrollers)  and  later  by  the  stamp  mills.  No  shaft  mining 
could  be  profitably  worked  in  those  days  that  did  not  produce  a  gold 
value  above  $15  per  ton,  and  this  ore  had  to  be  oxidized,  or  of  a  loose 
and  free  nature.  Nothing  but  shallow  workings  were  attempted. 

Deep  mining  for  the  sulphurets  of  a  much  higher  gold  percentage 
per  ton,  could  not  be  undertaken,  owing  to  the  refractory  nature  of 
the  metals  and  lack  of  machinery  for  pumping  and  hoisting  at  that 
period. 

Now,  it  is  quite  different.  No  mining  is  too  deep  or  "ores  too  re- 
fractory to  be  profitably  managed  under  our  up-to-date  methods. 

The  mineralized  zones  or  reefs  within  that  vast  slate  and  schist 
belt,  consists  principally  of  finely  divided  stringers  and  lenses  of 
varigated  quality,  from  1-10  inch  to  three  feet  in  thickness,  following 
the  cleavages  as  well  as  cross  and  criss-crossing  the  zones,  which 
are  found  20  to  500  feet  in  width  and  in  places  miles  in  length,  all  of 
which  is  decomposed  and  easily  mined  above  water  level. 

The  gold  occurs  largely  in  chlorides  and  finely  disseminated  flour 
which  was  undoubtedly  deposited  in  its  precious  condition  by  ascend- 
ing gases  and  mineralized  fluids. 

Taking  these  mineral  zones  as  a  whole,  they  will  in  most  in- 
stances, average  from  $3  to  $6  per  ton  in  gold,  and  as  this  ore  gives 
but  little  slimes,  the  precious  metals  can  easily  be  recovered  by 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  193 

cyanide  acids.  This  slate  formation  crops  out  from  ten  to  fifty  miles 
wide,  uniformly,  not  having  been  distorted  or  displaced  to  any  greai 
degree.  Their  course  bears  northeasterly  and  southwesterly  and  dip- 
ping mostly  westerly  from  30  to  55  degrees. 

There  are  evidences  of  much  mining  having  been  done  in  early 
days,  along  the  eastern  slope,  but  rot  to  any  great  depth.  Prof.  E. 
Emmons  tells  of  Telluriums  and  Telluride  ores  in  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina  as  far  back  as  1837  that  were  mined  on  a  small  scale. 

The  miners  confined  their  work  mostly  to  the  veins  containing 
free  gold,  which  they  saved  by  their  aforementioned  rockers  and  drag 
mills. 

The  primitive  mill  methods  are  still  found  in  numerous  localities 
gone  to  decay  and  relegated  to  the  past. 

Placer  mining  seemed  quite  popular  in  by-gone  days  and  much 
free  gold  is  still  obtained  by  the  farmers  after  a  hard  rain  or  during 
the  flood  period.  I  saw  a  full  quart  of  medium-sized  nuggets  purchased 
in  one  locality  last  May  that  were  picked  up  by  the  farmers  during  the 
spring  season. 

The  oxidized  portion  of  these  vast  gold  zones  are  from  fifty  to  two 
hundred  feet  in  depth  or  to  water  line.  Below  the  water  line  forms 
the  sulphurites  and  bluish  quartz  highly  imbedded  with  fine  grains  and 
stringers  of  gold.  The  veins  seem  to  concentrate  with  depth  and  im- 
prove in  value.  This  condition  should  i-aturally  improve  as  has  been 
the  case  in  these  Black  Hills  and  of  late  in  certain  sections  of  North 
Carolina  where  the  ore  bodies  have  been  followed  downwards  for  three 
and  five  hundred  feet. 

It  is  an  established  fact  that  sulphurates  penetrate  the  rock  from 
below,  therefore  it  is  conclusive  that  the  heaviest  gold  values  lie  deep. 
And  hence  better  results  will  be  gained  by  depth. 

"Recent  geological  researches  tell  us  that  the  Southern  slate  and 
schists  formation  is  no  less  than  two  thousand  feet  deep  and  within 
this  mass  of  rock  must  exist  precious  metals  which  cannot  be  exhaust- 
ed for  ages  and  is  one  of  the  most  important  gold  deposits  upon  this 
continent  (California  not  excepted)." 

Could  one-half  of  the  idle  mills  of  the  West  be  transported  to  the 
Southern  field  along  that  broad  gold  belt  there  would  be  a  transforma- 
tion in  gold  productions  of  such  a  vast  magnitude  that  the  most  skep- 
tical "Doubting  Thomas"  would  stand  amazed. 

There  are  no  custom  mills  or  samplers  to  treat  or  purchase  these 
Southern  ores  which  greatly  retard  the  mining  industry  for  that 
country. 

There  is  abundance  of  capital  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States, 
waiting  and  willing  to  go  into  active  mining  propositions.  Show  them 
an  investment  that  will  yield  a  moderate  profit  and  reasonable  dura- 
tion and  they  are  ready  to  buy. 

Statistics  show  over  $20,000.000  paid  in  dividends  by  mining  com- 
panies to  investors  since  1902. 

These  facts  coupled  with  the  spring  shearing  of  weak  and  bogus 
lambs  by  the  various  stock  centers,  and  the  subsequent  fall  skinning  of 
their  pelts  by  the  shrewd  manipulators,  has  naturally  placed  the 
market  in  a  better  condition  to  receive  the  legitimate  proposition  that 
might  be  offered.  This,  with  the  return  of  moneyed  men  from  their 
vacations,  ought  to  open  the  money  vaults  and  allow  mining  to  pros- 
per as  it  should  deserve. 

Nothing  could  be  safer  than  the  vast  low  grade  ores  of  these  East- 
ern or  Southern  states,  especially  in  North  Carolina,  with  its  mineral 
area  of  over  20,000  square  miles.  Where  the  cyanide  reduction  method 
has  already  made  its  advent,  and  is  today,  producing  the  yellow  metal 
with  large  profits  to  the  investor. 

We  will  take,  for  example,  the  Colossus  mill,  located  near  Wax- 
haw,  N.  C.,  at  the  mine  formerly  owned  by  Commodore  Stockton, 
which  mine,  according  to  the  mint  records  of  North  Carolina,  produced 
up  to  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war,  about  $700,000  (Bulletin  No.  10 
of  the  North  Carolina  Geological  Survey,  as  compiled  by  the  United 


194  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

States  mint,  shows  no  less  than  $21,830,528  in  gold  and  silver,  bullion 
credited  to  North  Carolina  alone).  This  is  certainly  conclusive  testi- 
mony that  gold  in  abundance  exists  in  that  state. 

The  Colossus  mill  has  a  capacity  of  one  hundred  tons  per  day,  and 
is  constructed  for  straight  cyanic  ing  by  perculation. 

The  gold  solution  is  forced  upwards  through  the  bottom  of  steel 
tanks  of  fifty-ton  capacity.  15-100  of  1  per  cent  of  cyanide  solution 
is  used;  and  from  seventy  to  seventy-two  hours  required  for  leaching 
these  tailings  before  the  gold  solution  is  passed  over  the  zinc  shavings, 
for  deposition.  From  90  to  92  per  cent  of  the  gold  values  are  recovered. 

This  mill  was  built  to  treat  a  large  deposit  of  tailings,  some  40,- 
000  tons  in  extent  which  came  from  this  property  prior  to  the  civil 
war. 

These  tailings  receive  a  straight  roasting  in  order  to  free  the  ore 
from  vegetable  matter,  they  average  about  $6  per  ton  in  gold  and  after 
treatment,  leave  but  40  cents  of  their  precious  values  to  the  ton,  in 
the  residue. 

The  gold  product  or  auro-cyanide,  after  two  weeks'  run  showed 
close  to  $30,000  per  ton  in  gold. 

The  mill  had  been  in  commission  about  one  month,  when  these 
results  were  attained,  and  it  had  not  got  down  to  its  best  work  as  is 
the  case  with  all  new  plants.  This  property  consists  of  1700  acres  of 
highly  improved  farm  land,  through  which  traverses  northeast  and 
southwest,  a  gold  reef  or  zone  for  5,000  feet,  which  averages  about 
400  feet  wide,  and  60  feet  above  the  level  plain. 

This  reef  is  of  a  gray  and  reddish  micaceous  schist  which  is 
quite  decomposed  and  easy  to  mine  and  dips  westerly  about  55  de- 
grees which  when  sampled  by  cross  cuts  from  end  to  end  gave  a 
value  of  $5  in  gold  and  two  ounces  of  silver  per  ton  and  is  thor- 
oughly adapted  to  the  cyanide  treatment.  Mill  tests  there  gave  88  per 
cent  extraction  under  a  70  hour  leach  with  a  15-100  per  cent  cyanide 
solution. 

The  Colossus  Gold  Mining  and  Milling  Company,  a  Philadelphia 
concern,  is  now  arranging  to  erect,  at  an  early  date,  a  1,000-ton  plant, 
to  treat  this  vast  gold  reef,  and  will  use  the  present  100-ton  mill  1o 
work  up  the  present  tailing  deposits. 

During  my  various  investigations  of  this  Eastern  field  various 
similar  propositions  to  that  of  the  Colossus  property  presented  them- 
selves, principally  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  any  of  which  can 
be  .secured  at  reasonable  price  and  upon  favorable  terms. 

These  Southern  lands  can  be  bought  at  ten  to  thirty  dollars  per 
acre.  In  most  instances,  titles  are  perfect,  conveying  in  fee-simple, 
all  minerals  and  everything  they  contain.  The  timber  and  agricultural 
values  alone  are  worth  the  price,  not  taking  into  consideration  the 
minerals. 

Choice  pine  lumber,  cut  to  dimensions,  is  delivered  at  $7  to  $12 
per  1,000  feet.  Hard  woods  at  $1  to  $1.50  per  cord.  Coal,  $2  to  $3 
per  ton  delivered. 

The  climate  is  delightful,  seasons  are  open  the  year  round,  tem- 
perature ranges  from  80  to  90  degrees  in  summer  and  45  to  60  degrees 
in  winter. 

Commodities  of  every  kind  are  raised  there,  making  living  very 
cheap.  Being  in  the  center  of  civilization,  near  the  sea,  and  railroads, 
transportation  is  reasonable,  making  the  markets  convenient. 

Water  for  milling  and  domestic  uses  is  bountiful  and  pure,  com- 
petent labor,  white  or  black,  is  plentiful  at  $1  to  $1.50  per  day,  of  ten 
hours,  (without  board). 

The  laborers  are  farmers,  with  fixed  homes,  who  do  not  drift 
from  place  to  place. 

When  these  facts  become  fully  known  to  the  interested  public 
MANUFACTURING  gold  will  become  as  much  an  industry  in  that 
section  as  it  is  in  the  Black  Hills.  I  have  no  personal  interests  in 
those  Southern  fields;  my  investments  are  all  in  Colorado,  Utah 'and 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  195 

Nevada,  but  by  special  request  I  was  called  upon  to  give  some  attention 
at  this  Congress  to  the  open  advantages  offered  by  those  Southern 
gold  fields,  and  so  consented. 

Mineral  lands  in  the  West  are  acquired  by  fliscovery  and  location, 
and  a  mineral  claim  consists  of  ten  to  twenty  acres,  according  to  its 
state  law. 

To  acquire  patents  from  our  government,  each  claim  costs  about 
$700  or  from  $70  to  $100  per  acre. 

After  all  these  expenses,  one  is  not  then  sure  of  his  title  to  tne 
mineral  therein,  as  the  "Apex"  or  Extra  Lateral  Rights  may  rob  him 
of  the  ore. 

This  vexed  Apex  question  is  the  curse  of  OUT  Western  mining  in- 
dustry and  "should  have  died  in  its  borning."  As  it  was  permitted  to 
live,  we  should,  without  delay,  wipe  it  from  our  mining  code,  for  it 
has  driven  and  will  continue  to  drive  millions  of  dollars  from  our 
Western  fields,  into  Old  Mexico,  and  other  foreign  countries  where 
the  dreaded  nightmare  does  not  exist. 

It  is  authoritively  stated  and  recorded,  that  the  population  of 
America  is  not  as  large  as  the  rumber  of  dollars  tied  up  in  law  suits 
in  the  West,  owing  to  the  Apex  law.  This  Apex  farce,  in  conjunctitin 
with  the  entanglement  of  location  claim  lines,  makes  "countless  thou- 
sands weep." 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  many  hundreds  of  reduction  mills 
have  been  erected  in  the  West,  and  are  standing  idle  today,  for  want 
of  proper  ores  to  feed  them. 

A  large  percentage  of  promoters  and  .mechanical  engineers  are 
responsible  for  these  "cemeteries  of  mills,"  whose  headstones  mark 
their  sad  mistakes  and  not  the  legitimate  mining  man's. 

It  is  so  much  easier  to  get  the  tender-footed  investor  from  the 
East  separated  from  his  cash,  by  the  alluring  promise  of  "dividends 
as  soon  as  the  mill,  now  being  built,  is  running." 

The  prospective  buyer  seldom  investigates  the  advisability  of  sucli 
a  mill,  the  amount  of  ore  available  nor  its  adaptability  to  the  proposed 
treatment.  The  unscrupulous  "engineer"  or  expert  encouraged  by  a 
large  and  liberal  "rake  off"  from  the  manufacturer  naturally  advises 
building  the  mill  the  first  thing. 

The  Gugganheims  for  the  Smelter  Trust,  are  far-seeing  mining 
men;  they,  with  others,  show  their  wisdom  in  reaching  out  for  all 
mines  of  great  ore  tonnage  for  their  plants,  otherwise  their  mills  would 
soon  close  for  want  of  materials. 

Developed  ores  are  far  behind  the  present  milling  capacity,  not 
counting  the  many  mills  in  course  of  construction. 

Much  more  money  and  energy  will  have  to  be  spent  in  developing 
ores;  otherwise,  there  will  be  a  great  shortage  of  all  kinds  and  closed 
mills  must  follow. 

It  is  the  duty  of  this  Mining  Congress,  now  in  session,  to  use  its 
best  influence  and  power  to  correct  and  check  these  abuses;  this  clone, 
you  will  have  accomplished  wonders  for  the  mining  interests  of 
America. 

"Seing  is  believing."     "Seek  and  you  shall  find." 

The  mining  man  and  his  co-investor  should  view  those  Southern 
lands  before  casting  his  lot  and  money  into  those  far  distant  fields 
of  Alaska  and  South  America,  from  whose  mountains  of  myths  he 
derives  an  annual  dividend  of  experiences  and  an  occasional  clean-up 
of  confidences  as  his  reward. 

MR.  GRAYSON,  OF  OREGON:  I  would  move  a  vote  of  thanks  ttl 
Dr.  Holmes  for  his  able  address,  by  rising  vote. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  stated  by  the  president  arid  unani- 
mously carried. ' 


196  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  this  Congress  express  its  ap- 
preciation of  the  paper  by  Mr.  C.  L.  Dignowity  by  rising  vote  of 
thanks,  which  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  Mr.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska, 
be  extended  a  vote  of  thanks  for  his  excellent  address  in  behalf  of 
membership,  which  motion  was  carried. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  I  will  make  a  motion  that 
the  chair  appoint  a  committee  to  attend  the  St.  Louis  Exposition  on 
behalf  of  the  American  Mining  uongress,  with  Colonel  Thomas  Ewing 
as  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  also  would  suggest  the  name  of 
Honorable  John  T.  Grayson,  of  Oregon,  as  a  member  of  the  commi^ee, 
and  that  committee  be  composed  of  not  less  than  fifteen  members  of 
the  Congress. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:     I  second  the  motion. 
The  motion  was  stated  by  the  president  and  carried. 

MR.  J.  A.  HOLMES,  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA:  i  would  like  to 
ask  whether  it  is  impossible  to  move  to  suspend  the  rules  and  proceed 
at  once  with  the  part  of  the  work  of  this  Congress  which  is  set  for 
2  o'clock. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  would  make  this  suggestion;  pos- 
sibly we  might  do  that  if  we  would  let  the  records  show  we  met  here 
at  2  o'clock  and  comply  with  the  by-laws  by  voting  at  2  o'clock,  Con- 
sidering the  matters  now. 

MR.  HOLMES:  I  would  move,  Mr.  President,  thai  we  now  pro- 
ceed to  consider  the  place  of  meeting. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:     I  second  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that 
tnis  Congress  consider  the  question  of  a  place  of  meeting  for  the 
next  session  of  this  Congress,  the  final  vote  to  be  taken  at  2  o'clock. 

Which  motion  was  carried. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  It  is  with  great  pleasure 
that  I  have  been  requested  by  the  committee  to  place  before  this  Con- 
gress the  name  of  the  place  that  will  be  a  pleasure  I  know  for  all  of 
us  to  hear  and  I  trust  and  believe  it  will  be  a  double  pleasure  for  all 
of  us  to  attend  the  next  meeting  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 
The  city  to  which  I  vfill  call  your  attention  and  which  I  will  name 
is  one  that  we  all  know  about.  It  is  one  that  is  surrounded  by  beau- 
tiful scenery  and  has  a  beautiful  river  running  through  it  and  by  it. 
It  is  a  city  that  has  railroads  running  to  it  from  all  directions  as  well 
as  the  ships  of  the  sea.  It  is  a  place  you  can  enjoy  yourself.  It  is  a 
place  you  can  visit  any  season  of  the  year  and  pluck  a  flower  from  the 
yards  without  permission,  as  I  have  been  informed  oy  our  distinguished 
guest,  Colonel  Grayson.  The  name  of  the  city,  Mr.  President,  to 
which  I  would  call  your  attention  for  the  next  meeting  of  this  impor- 
tant body  is  Portland,  Oregon,  and  I  would  move  you,  sir,  that  this 
Congress  meet  in  Portland,  Oregon  at  a  time  next  season,  1904,  that 
the  directors  of  this  organization  will  hereafter  name,  probably  in  the 
latter  part  of  July  or  the  first  veek  in  August,  or  perhaps  some  other 
time  that  may  be  thought  more  agreeable,  and  at  a  time  when  people 
can  attend. 

MR.  HOLMES,  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA:  I  second  the  motion. 
I  desire  to  say  it  has  been  my  pleasure  to  be  in  Portland  several 
times  and  I  certainly  will  look  forwafS  to  the  hope  that  I  may  be  able 
to  break  away  from  the  St.  Louis  Exposition  or  get  somebody  to  take 
me  away  from  it  so  that  I  myself  might  go  to  Portland.  It  is  a  most 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  197 

beautiful  place  to  go  to.  What  we  want  to  do  is  to  go  there  and 
mingle  with  its  generous  people,  see  what  they  are  doing,  tell  them 
what  we  are  doing  and  ask  them  to  join  us  in  the  great  purposes  we 
have  in  view. 

MR.  GRAYSON,  OP  OREGON:  I  thank  the  gentlemen  very  much 
for  the  honor  to  Portland.  We  will  try  to  give  them  a  royal  time  and 
entertainment.  We  are  prepared  to  do  it  in  1904  but  we  would  not 
be  prepared  in  1905  when  the  exposition  is  on.  It  would  be  like  St. 
Louis;  we  would  be  smothered  up,  covered  up,  an  unknown  quantity, 
but  as  it  is  I  will  guarantee  you  one  of  fhe  best  times — I  don't  say 
the  best  because  nobody  could  do  any  better  than  our  friends  here 
have  done  for  us,  but  I  thank  you  and  hope  that  every  member  will 
try  and  be  present.  I  will  hope  to  meet  you  all  and  see  you  all  in 
Portland  in  1904. 

MR.  DRAKE,  OF  OREGON:  I  presume  that  there  may  be  an 
impression  among  some  of  the  members  that  there  was  a  division  of 
opinion,  something  serious  among  the  delegates  from  Portland.  I  had 
hoped  that  the  convention  might  be  held  in  1905,  because  at  that 
time  there  is  to  be  a  centennial  celebration  which  I  referred  to  in  a 
resolution  yesterday,  noting  and  marking  one  of  the  most  important 
epochs  of  the  American  people.  One  of  my  ideas  was  that  by  holding 
the  convention  at  that  time  we  would  promote  and  strengthen  the 
mining  industry  by  displaying  our  mineral  resources  and  informing 
the  people  of  the  interests  that  this  American  Mining  Congress  has 
in  the  development  of  the  mining  industry  and  thereby  increase  the 
membership  of  the  Congress  and  promote  the  business  in  which  the 
Congress  is  engaged  by  gathering  together  at  Portland  for  the  first 
time  a  mineral  display  such  as  has  never  yet  been  prepared  and  to 
make  that  one  of  the  features  of  the  centennial  celebration.  Thfs 
was  the  idea  I  had  entertained  and  hoped  would  have  been  carried. 
I  certainly  shall  not  do  or  say  anything  against  this  Congress  going 
to  Portland,  I  only  say  that  in  my  judgment  I  had  believed  that  the 
people  of  Portland  and  all  of  the  state  of  Oregon  and  of  all  the 
Northwest,  the  Pacific  states,  would  prefer  to  have  had  a  meeting 
of  this  Congress  there  in  1905  for  that  reason.  But  I  am  glad  that 
you  are  inclined  to  come  there  in  1904  and  I  want  to  invoke  the  co- 
operation of  all  of  the  mining  states  of  the  great  Northwest  to  join 
with  us  and  to  make  this  Mining  Congress  in  1904  a  success.  What 
we  need  is  to  arouse  all  interests  of  the  people  and  mining  men  in  the 
great  NortEwest,  in  all  the  country  from  Canada  to  Mexico,  from  Hie 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  to  impress  upon  them  the  importance 
of  the  mining  industry  in  which  so  many  of  us  are  engaged.  In  as  much 
as  the  opinion  seems  to  be  that  the  Congress  should  be  held  in  Port- 
land in  19D4  there  can  b'e  no  objection  and  we  heartily  wish  you  to 
come  as  well  as  the  states  of  Idaho,  Washington  and  all  the  Western 
mining  states.  We  will  all  be  pleased  to  have  you  come  there  in 
1904.  You  will  all  meet  a  cordial  welcome.  There  will  be  no  locks 
on  the  doors,  and  therefore  I  second  also  the  motion  to  have  the  con- 
vention held  in  Portland  in  1904. 

MR.  JOHN  T.  JONES,  OF  CALIFORNIA:  Hailing  from  the 
little  modest  city,  Los  Angeles,  which  at  one  time  aspired  to  have  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Congress  held  there,  I  desire  to  second  the  motion 
for  the  next  meeting  to  be  held  at  Portland,  Oregon.  I  desire,  on 
behalf  of  Los  Angeles,  to  second  the  motion  that  the  next  meeting  of 
this  Congress  be  held  in  Portland.  I  desire  to  say  further,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent and  gentlemen,  that  the  latch  string  of  Los  Angeles  always  hangs 
outside  the  door.  When  the  year  of  1905  rolls  around  we  will  be 
more  than  pleased  to  show  you  whr..t  genuine  hospitality  is  in  Southern 
California.  Los  Angeles  is  the  home  of  a  great  many  miners.  The 
fact  is  many  of  them  when  they  have  made  money  enough  to  -retire 
come  to  Los  Angeles  to  live.  If  you  will  come  to  Los  Angeles  we  will 
show  you  how  they  do  live. 


198  OFFICIAL,   PROCEEDINGS 

MR.  LYNCH,  OF  MONTANA:  On  behalf  of  the  state  of  Mon- 
tana I  rise  to  second  the  motion  that  the  city  of  Portland,  Oregon, 
be  our  next  meeting  place. 

MR.  BROWN,  OF  COLORADO:  We/the  people  of  Colorado,  are 
perched  on  the  summit  of  the  divide,  and  as  we  are  greatly  interested 
in  mining  we  of  course  enjoy  entertaining  and  are  delighted  at  being 
entertained,  and  having  a  central  geographical  position  in  this  great 
mining  country  and  being  on  tfie  summit  so  that  we  can  slide  down 
hill  in  any  direction  to  any  point  that  may  be  suggested  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Congress,  we  feel  it  is  satisfactory  to  us  wherever  the 
Congress  will  be  called,  and  we  heartily  second  the  nomination  of 
Portland. 

MR.  JENKINS,  OF  IDAHO:  On  behalf  of  Idaho  I  rise  to  second 
the  nomination  of  Portland. 

MR.  RUSSELE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  On  behalf  of  the  state* 
of  South  Dakota,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of  the  Black  Hills,  the  mining 
men  of  South  Dakota  and  on  behalf  of  the  Black  Hills  Mining  Men's 
Association,  on  behalf  of  those  who  have  had  the  pleasure  and  the 
honor  of  entertaining  this  Congress  at  this  time,  believing  that  the 
welcome  this  Congress  will  receive  in  the  city  of  Portland,  while  it 
cannot  excel  the  welcome  that  has  been  in  our  hearts,  will  equal  it, 
heartily  and  sincerely  do  I  second  the  nominating  of  Portland  as  the 
place  of  meeting  of  the  next  session  of  this  Congress. 

MR.  DIGNOWITY,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA:  On  behalf  of  Penn- 
sylvania, the  Keystone  state,  I  piedge  my  hearty  support  as  far  as  I 
am  able  to  assist  in  the  next  Congress  and  its  work  to  be  held  at 
Portland.  . 

MR.  GARBY,  OF  WASHINGTON:  On  behalf  of  the  chamber  o! 
commerce  at  Spokane  in  the  state  of  Washington,  having  myself  at 
one  time  the  idea  that  I  might  possibly  have  had  the  privilege  of  in- 
viting you  to  come  to  our  own  state,  but  the  time  being  sHort,  we  were 
unable  to  make  the  arrangements,  and  as  our  sis'ter  state  was  in  he 
race,  it  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  second  the  motion  for  this  Con- 
gress to  meet  at  Portland. 

MR.  BENNETT,  OF  MINNESOTA:  On  behalf  of  the  state  of  Min- 
nesota I  second  the  nomination. 

MR.  GOODNER,  OF  WISCONSIN:  There  may  be  a  time  when 
our  little  city  by  the  lake,  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  will  be  glad  to  wel- 
come this  Congress,  but  in  the  meantime  I  assure  you  that  Wisconsin 
will  not  be  second  to  anybody  when  it  comes  to  Portland  next  year. 

The  motion  was  stated  by  the  President. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded*  that  the  secretary  be  instructed  to 
record  the  vote  as  given  at  2  o'clock  this  day,  which  motion  was 
carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  now  recurs  to  the  original  motion 
as  amended  that  the  next  session  of  this  Congress  be  held  at  Port- 
land, Oregon,  in  1904  ancl  that  the  secretary  be  instructed  to  record 
the  vote  as  given  at  2  o'clock. 

Which  motion  was  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  am  authorized  to  state  on  behalf 
of  Portland  that  to  assist  this  Congress  in  meeting  its  liabilities  for 
the  coming  year,  they  will  pay  into  the  treasury  of  this  Congress 
three  thousand  dollars. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  next  business  in  order  is  the 
election  of  officers.  A  motion  is  not  necessary,  it  being  a  special 
order  of  business  by  the  by-laws.  Are  you  ready  for  the  question 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  199 

as  to  adopting  the  report  of  the  committee  on  nominations  for  the 
officers  of  this  Congress  for  the  ensuing  year.  All  In  favor  of  that 
motion  say  "aye." 

The  motion  was  carried  and  the  report  was  adopte'd. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  Since  making  the  report 
this  morning  I  regret'  to  say  that  we  have  received  the  declination  of 
Dr.  E.  R.  Buckley  as  director,  which  we  are  sorry  for,  but  he  states 
that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  give  the  time  that  he  would  feel  that 
he  should  to  the  Congress  and  sends  in  his  regrets.  I  have  consulted 
with  the  other  members  of  the  committee  in  reference  to  a  name  to 
be  substituted  in  his  place  and  we  have  agreed  upon  the  name  of 
Honorable  John  Bern,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  who  is  president  and 
general  manager  of  the  Consolidated  Mercury  Mines,  and  I  move  that 
he  be  nominated. 

MR.  DIGNOWITY,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA:  I  desire  to  second  the 
nomination. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     As  Mr.  Buckley  has  declined  are  you 
ready  for  the  question  as  to  substituting  Mr.  Dern  for  Mr.  Buckley? 
The  motion  was  carried. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  Mr.  President,  I  made  a 
motion  to  have  fifteen  appointed  from  this  Congress  to  attend  the 
St.  Louis  Exposition  and  it  was  carried.  I  also  stated  in  that  motion 
that  Colonel  Ewing  be  named  as  chairman  and  Mr.  Grayson  be 
named  as  one  of  the  members.  I  forgot  one  little  thing  that  I  now  wish 
to  correct  with"  your  permission  and  with  the  permission  of  the  Con- 
gress, and  that  is  to  suggest  that  the  name  of  our  president  be  also 
included  in  that  number  of  fifteen  and  it  has  been  suggested  by  Mr. 
Grantz  that  one  member  from  each  state  as  far  as  fifteen  would  go 
would  be  a  good  idea  on  that  committee.  I  suggest  that  for  your 
consideration. 

MR.  EWING,  OF  CALIFORNIA :  I  would  say  to  the  Congress  as 
I  am  fortunate  to  be  appointed  on  that  committee,  I  very  much  prefer 
the  president  of  this  Congress  be  chairman  of  that  committee. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:     I  second  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Gentlemen,  no  man  in  this  Western 
country  has  been  treated  so  kindly  and  generously  as  I  have  been  by 
the  mining  men  during  the  past.  I  appreciate  more  than  I  can  tell 
what  you  have  done,  not  because  you  have  placel  me  in  this  position 
but  because  I  feel  that  back  of  it  you  think  I  have  rendered  some 
service.  I  feel  at  this  time,  and  I  am  more  than  ever  impressed  with 
the  truth  of  the  statement,  that  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive. 

You  have  given  me  your  votes  and  I  accepted  this  position.  I 
recognize  that  that  man  is  greatest  always  in  any  place  whether  his 
duty  has  been  to  carry  the  hod  or  presiding  over  the  destiny  of  a 
nation,  who  renders  the  highest  service  In  the  position  in  which  he 
is  employed.  Therefore  I  appreciate  it  because  I  feel  that  whatever 
service  I  may  have  rendered  you  have  appreciated  it  and  that  he  who 
serves  best  is  always  the  greatest.  Therefore  he  who  would  be  great 
among  you  let  him  be  your  servant.  It  is  upon  that  theory  and  that 
theory  alone  that  I  accept.  There  is  no  man  in  the  West  so  promi- 
nent in  mining,  no  man  more  fitted  to  preside  over  that  committee 
than  Mr.  Ewing,  no  man  better  to  take  us  to  St.  Louis  as  a  body 
than  Colonel  Ewing. 

President  Richards  at  this  time  asked  for  a  suggestion  from  the 
Congress  as  to  the  appointment  of  a  member  from  each  state  on 
the  committee  to  visit  St.  Louis. 


200  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  If  you  have  not  named 
anyone  from  the  state  of  South  Dakota,  I  desire  to  present  a  name  as  a 
member  of  that  committee. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     I  have  named  Mr.  Russell. 

MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  Allow  me  to  withdraw  my 
name  from  this  committee.  I  have  been  highly  honored  by  the  Con- 
gress. There  are  many  men  in  the  Black  Hills  Mining  Men's  Asso- 
ciation who  have  worked  just  as  hard  and  faithfully  as  I  have  in  this 
matter  all  the  way  through,  and  as  I  have  been  so  largely  honored 
1  trust  that  you  will  name  the  gentleman  Mr.  Martin  had  in  mind. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS  You  deserve  this  honor  if  any  man  in 
this  Congress  does.  I  want  to  say  this,  that  while  I  feel  honored 
very  much  that  honor  is  largely  due  to  such  men  as  Mr.  Russell  and 
cur  secretary  and  to  the  inspiration  that  has  been  given  us  by  the 
mining  men  and  I  desire  that  you  accept. 

MR.  MARTIN,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  He  is  the  very  man  whom 
I  had  in  mind  and  as  an  additional  reason  I  would  like  to  see  him  on 
the  committee  for  the  reason  he  is  chairman  of  our  state  commission 
to  the  world's  fair  in  St.  Louis,  and  above  all  other  citizens  in  South 
Dakota  would  therefore  be  in  a  position  to  facilitate  the  very  things 
for  which  this  committee  is  appointed. 

MR.  FARGO,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  I  wish  to  very  heartily  en- 
dorse the  appointment  of  Mr.  Russell. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Jenkins,  of  Idaho,  and  duly  seconded  that 
Mr.  Bennett,  of  Minnesota,  be  made  a  member  of  that  committee, 
which  motion  was  carried. 

It  was  moved  seconded  and  carried  that  S.  B.  Kemper  be  ap- 
pointed on  the  committee. 

It  was  moved  by  MT.  John  Gray  that  Mr.  Buckley,  of  Missouri, 
be  proposed  as  a  member  of  that  committee,  which  motion  was  sec- 
onded and  carried. 

Other  suggestions  of  persons  to  become  members  of  the  com- 
mittee were  made  and  appointed  by  the  president  and  the  committee 
is  as  follows: 

Ewing,  Arizona;  Grayson,  Oregon;  Russell,  South  Dakota;  Kem- 
per, Montana;  Trask,  California;  Jenkins,  Idaho;  Dignowity,  Penn- 
sylvania; Bennett,  Minnesota;  Brown,  Colorado;  Borttell,  Ohio; 
Buckley,  Missouri;  Garby,  Washington;  Webster,  Nebraska;  Dern. 
Utah;  Malko,  New  Mexico. 

Mr.  Martin  spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  President,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  American  Mining  Congress: 
The  Black  Hills  Mining  Men's  Association  are  not  willing  that  thfs 
Congress  should  come  to  its  close  without  bearing  testimony  in  some 
degree  to  the  high  appreciation  that  they  feel,  individually  and  col- 
lectively, as  an  association,  for  our  honored  president,  Mr.  Richards. 
During^  the  past  year,  having  a  large  responsibility  in  the  preparation 
for  these  meetings,  the  Black  Hills  Mining  Men's  Association  have 
come  into  very  close  contact  with  our  president,  and  they  have  found 
in  him  a  gentleman  always,  a  man  of  the  highest  type  of  character, 
brave  and  courageous  in  his  plans  and  equally  ready  in  their  exe- 
cution. And  so,  casting  about  us  to  how  in  some  manner  express  in 
a  permanent  way  these  feelings,  they  hTave  this  moment  commis- 
sioned me  with  the  pleasant  task  of  giving  them  expression. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Black  Hills  Mining  Men's  Association 
to  have  prepared  at  once  a  badge  like  this  delegate's  badge  except 
that  it  will  be  marked  as  the  badge  of  the  President,  with  his  name; 
to  manufacture  this  of  Black  Hills  gold  and  to  transmit  it  as  speedily 
as  we  can  to  our  president. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  201 

We  realize,  gentlemen  of  the  Congress,  that  of  all  the  product, 
of  the  mining  industry  in  all  the  generations  of  the  world,  the  best 
products  have  been  the  mining  men.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  have  been 
the  task  of  the  mining  prospector  throughout  all  history  to  be  thp 
forerunner  of  civilization.  By  some  marvelous  disposition  of  Pro- 
vidence the  precious  metals,  gold  and  silver,  essential  to  the  money 
systems  of  the  world,  have  not  been  confined  to  any  one  locality, 
but  distributed  throughout  the  world  and  generally  in  the  most  in- 
accessible and  improbable  places,  and  as  a  result  the  brave  men  of 
the  world  in  all  generations  have  been  the  men  who  have  been  at- 
tracted to  the  frontier  and  have  been  the  first  to  place  their  feet 
upon  untrodden  places.  They  have  been  the  first  to  scale  the  moun 
tain  peaks.  In  the  history  of,  our  own  United  States  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  California  in  1849  was"  the  magnet  that  drew  the  brave  men 
of  that  period  across  the  Sierras  and  the  matchless  Rockies  to  begin 
the  days  of  civilization  on  the  far  away  Pacific  coast.  As  a  result 
came  the  first  and  then  the  next  and  the  next  transcontinental  rail- 
road until  we  are  today  banded  by  five  or  six  of  these  great  iron  high- 
ways, and  much  as  we  talk  of  the  West  and  the  East  it  is  but  a  com- 
parative term.  All  points  between  San  Francisco  and  New  York  are 
East  and  all  points  between  New  York  and  San  Francisco  are  West. 
In  all  of  this  march  of  progress  the  miner  in  his  cabin  upon  the  fron- 
tier, with  his  disposition  at  all  times  to  law  and  order,  has  been  the 
pioneer  in  establishing  American  institutions  and  in  laying  the  foun- 
dation for  the  administration  of  American  law.  Indeed,  they  are  the 
pathfinders  who  have  hewn  down  the  trees,  and  thrown  up  the  high- 
ways over  which  the  marching  forces  of  civilization  have  passed  in 
subsequent  years  to  possess  this  wonderful  land.  And  so  we  realize 
that  the  best  product  of  the  mining  industry,  not  excepting  its  gold, 
silver  and  metals  of  utility,  is  the  type  of  brave,  courageous,  hospit- 
able manhood  that  has  always  been  in  the  fore  in  making  the  way 
for  the  civilization  of  this  country.  (Applause). 

And  we  of  the  Black  Hills  Mining  Men's  Association,  an  associa- 
tion recently  organized,  but  now  some  five  hundred  strong,  and  to 
grow  to  a  much  larger  membership  we  have  no  doubt — *I  now  but  ex- 
press the  sentiment  which  is  one  in  common  with  every  member  of 
this  Congress,  when  we  recognize  in  our  worthy  president  the  best 
type  of  that  manhood  that  has  in  these  days  gone  to  the  frontier  to 
build  up  and  give  character  and  success  to  this  great  empire  of  the 
"West.  (Applause).  And  so  we  present  to  you,  Mr.  Richards,  todav 
this  advance  token  of  what  is  to  follow  as  a  very  inadequate,  but 
I  trust  a  permanent  suggestion  of  the  deep  feelings  of  our  hearts  in 
tendering  you  this  note  of  our  sincere  regard.  (Applause). 

Mr.  Richards  made  response  as  follows: 

Again  I  am  impressed  with  the  one  thought,  as  I  have  been  before 
in  my  experience,  that  there  is  nothing  so  certain  in  this  material 
world  as  the  unexpected.  I  scarcely  comprehend  why  this  should  be 
done,  but  I  recognize  that  thought  that  true  worth  is  in  being,  not 
seeming;  to  do  each  day  that  goes  by  some  little  good,  not  dreamine 
of  great  things  to  do  bye  and  bye.  That  has  been  my  aim  in  my  own 
state,  in  my  own  home,  politically  and  otherwise.  I  have  never 
sought  distinction  for  myself.  It  has  been  bestowed  apon  me  per- 
haps more  in  my  own  home  than  any  other  section  where  I  have  been. 
I  recognize  that  whatever  of  best  qualities  a  man  may  possess,  their 
merit  is  expressed  through  the  highest  service  to  his  fellow  men. 
That  has  been  my  ambition  and  aim.  Some  places  are  #ood  to  live 
in;  some  to  die  in.  That  was  most. pertinently  expressed — I  think  I 
intimated  here  at  one  of  our  executive  committee  meetings  when  mf-n 
of  the  Black  Hills  gave  that  committee  a  reception.  We  had  a  little 
play  in  the  opera  house  in  Boise  City  and  the  hero  of  that  play  was 
about  to  die  and  he  called  his  friends  around  his  dying  bedside.  He 
said  he  had  one  last  request  to  make  and  that  was  to  take  him  back 


202  OFFICIAL   PROCEEDINGS 

to  Nampa,  a  little  place  surrounded  with  sage  brush,  that  he  might 
die  there.  They  said,  "Why  do  you  make  such  a  request  as  that?" 
He  said,  "I  would  leave  the  spot  with  less  regret  than  any  other  spot 
on  earth."  Now  while  Nampa  may  be  a  good  place  to  die  in  the  Black 
Hills  is  a  good  place  to  live  in.  (Applause).  I  shall,  as  I  have  be- 
fore, leave  these  Hills  with  regret. 

That  is  a  beautiful  token  of  a  beautiful  sentiment  and  I  will 
simply  say  to  the  men  of  the  Black  Hills  I  will  wear  it  with  honor. 

MR.  JACKSON,  OF  IDAHO:  In  behalf  of  Idaho  i  would  like  to 
make  a  few  remarks  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Black  Hills  Mining 
Men's  Association  who  have  so  highly  honored  Idaho  in  paying  tri- 
bute as  it  has  to  one  of  our  citizens.  I  have  often  heard  that  the 
raining  men  of  the  Black  Hills  were  good  prospectors.  Now  I  know  it, 
for  they  have  prospected  Idaho  and  found  some  of  our  ablest,  bright- 
est and  brilliant  manhood  whom  you  have  made  president  of  this 
session.  (Applause).  If  you*  would  have  such  prospecting  done  in 
Idaho  we  might  soon  hope  in  some  portions  of  the  state  at  least  to 
rival  the  Black  Hills  in  its  gold  production,  but  I  wisn  to  say,  gen- 
tlemen, that  you  have  made  no  .mistake  in  honoring  Honorable  John 
H.  Richards  as  you  have.  We  know  him  as  you  see  him  here.  He 
never  puts  the  best  foot  forward  but  one  time  and  that  is  all  the 
time.  His  domestic  life  is  all  that  it  should  be.  We  have  honored  him 
there  repeatedly.  We  have  made  him  mayor  of  our  city,  we  have 
made  him  judge  of  our  district  court  and  we  have  never,  I  say,  made 
any  mistake.  I  can  only  liken  him  to  one  who  I  believe,  irrespective 
of  politics,  you  are  all  pleased  to  honor  and  his  .memeory  revere  today; 
one  who  has  gone  where  he  is  free  from  the  trouble  of  private  life  or  of 
statesmanship,  Major  William  McKinley.  (Applause). 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  Congress  be  adjourned  until 
2  o'clock,  September  12th,  1903,  which  motion  was  carried. 

September  12th,  1903,  2  o'clock  P.  M. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Let  Congress  be  in  order.  I  would 
like  to  suggest  that  immediately  upon  adjournment  the  new  board  of 
directors  hold  a  session  at  once  for  the  selection  of  their  officers. 

Secretary  Mahon  at  this  time  cast  the  unanimous  vote  of  tnft 
Congress  for  the  next  session  of  the  Congress  to  be  held  at  Portland, 
Oregon,  in  1904.  The  secretary  also  cast  the  unanimous  vote  of  the 
congress  for  the  election  of  the  officers  of  this  Congress  as  recom- 
mended by  the  committee  on  nominations. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  chair  has  no  further  business  oi> 
the  table.  If  there  is  anything  to  be  presented  at  this  time  the  oppor- 
tunity is  given. 

MR.  GEORGE,  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA:  We  have  been  distributing 
bouquets  around  expressing  our  appreciation  of  the  able  manner  in 
which  our  officers  of  this  Congress  have  done  their  duty,  but  there  is 
one  officer  of  this  Congress  who  in  season  and  out  of  season  has  de- 
voted his  best  time  and  talent  to  the  Congress  and  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  president  and  board  of  directors  has  discharged  every  duty 
incumbent  upon  him  and  therefore  as  a  mark  of  appreciation  of  this 
Congress  I  move  that  a  rising  vote  of  thanks  be  extended  to  our  able 
and  efficient  secretary  of  this  Congress,  Irwin  Mahon,  of  Pennsylvania. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:     I  second  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that 
as  a  mark  of  appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  by  our  secretary 
that  we  express  it  by  rising  vote  of  thanks.  Before  that  question  is 
put  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  I  have  labored  with  Mr.  Mahon  now 
for  one  year.  I  have  never  met  a  man  .more  willing  to  sacrifice  his 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  203 

own  personal  convenience,  his  time,  his  energy,  his  hopes,  as  he  has 
shown  far  this  Congress.  I  Lave  spent  with  him  a  year  in  studving 
the  wants  of  this  Congress,  together  with  such  men  as  Mr.  Buckley 
and  Mr.  Russell,  and  we  see  now  something  of  the  fruits  of  it  in  the 
expressions  that  have  been  given  here.  I  now  feel  more  hopeful  and 
sanguine  than  ever  before  as  to  the  success  of  this  Congress,  all 
largely  due  to  the  energy  and  intelligent  action  of  our  secretary  rind 
I  take  pleasure  in  putting  this  motion. 

The  motion  was  again  stated  by  the  president  and  unanimously 
carried. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen  of  the 
Congress,  I  thank  you. 

MR.  EWING,  OF  CALIFORNIA:     If  there  is  no  further  business 
before  the  Congress  I  now  move  that  we  adjourn  sine  die. 
The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 
The  American  Mining  Corgress  adjourned  sine  die. 

MEETING   OF  BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS    OF    AMERICAN    MINING 
CONGRESS,  DEADWOOD,  S.  D.,  SEPTEMBER  12,  1903. 

Meeting  called  to  order  by  President  J.  H.  Richards. 

Present  at  meeting:  J.  H.  Richards,  Thomas  Ewing,  R.  C.  Pat- 
terson, John  Gray,  J.  A.  Holmes  and  James  H.  Lyn'ch. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Ewing,  seconded  by  Mr.  Patterson  that  the 
present  president,  Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  be  elected  as  president  of  this 
association,  which  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Patterson,  seconded  by  Mr.  Gray  that 
Thomas  Ewing  be  elected  first  vice  president  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress,  which  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

It  was  moved  by  Ewing,  seconded  by  Mr.  Lynch  that  Mr.  Patterson 
be  elected  as  second  vice  president  of  the  American  Mining  Congress, 
which  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Patterson,  seconded  by  Mr.  Ewing  that  Mr. 
Grayson  be  elected  third  vice  president  of  the  American  Mining  Con- 
gress, which  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Ewing,  seconded  by  Mr.  Gray  that  Thomas 
K.  Muir  be  elected  treasurer  of  this  organization  for  the  ensuing  year, 
which  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Patterson,  seconded  by  Mr.  Ewing  that  Mr. 
Mahon  be  elected  secretary  of  this  association  for  the  ensuing  year, 
which  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Ewing,  seconded  by  Mr.  Gray  that  the  presi- 
dent be  authorized  to  accept  the  bond  that  may  be  given  by  the  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  without  the  presence  of  the  balance  of  the  board, 
which  motion  was  carried  unanimously. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Holmes*  seconded  by  Mr.  Ewing  that  the 
secretary  be  instructed  to  receive  bids  for  the  printing  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  Congress  and  then,  with  the  approval  of  the  presi- 
dent, let  such  bid  to  such  person  as  he  may  deem  best,  which  motion 
was  carried  unanimously. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Ewing,  seconded  by  Mr.  Gray  that  the  salary 
of  the  secretary  be  temporarily  fixed  at  $150  a  month,  until  the  next 
meeting  of  the  board  of  directors,  which  motion  was  carried  unani- 
mously. 

It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Ewing,  seconded  by  Mr.  Patterson  that  this 
meeting  be  adjourned,  which  motion  was  carried  unanimously. 

OFFICERS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 
J.  H.  Richards,  Boise,  Idaho,  president. 
Thomas  Ewing,  of  California,  1st  vice  president. 
R.  C.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  2nd  vice  president. 
John  T.  Grayson,  of  Oregon,  3rd  vice  president. 


204  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

Irwin  Mahon,  of  Carlisle,  Pa.,  secretary. 

Thomas  K.  Muir,  of  Oregon,  treasurer. 

E.  F.  Brown,  Colorado. 

J.  A.  Holmes,  St.  Louis. 

John  Gray,  Terraville,  S.  D. 

James  H.  Lynch,  Montana. 

John  Bern,  Utah. 

NOTES  ON  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  BUTTE. 
C.  W.  Goodale. 

(This  paper  was  overlooked  by  the  printers  in  the  publishing  of  the 
proceedings  at  Butte,  Montana.) 

The  history  of  the  development  of  Butte  mines  is  an  interesting 
chapter  in  the  story  of  the  Northwest.  The  first  discoveries  of  placer 
gold  in  Montana  were  made  in  the  early  sixties,,  and  in  1863  gold  was 
found  in  the  Butte  district.  The  period  of  greatest  activtiy  in  placer 
mining  here  was  in  1864  and  1865,  and  the  town  of  Silver  Bow  was  a 
lively  place  at  that  time.  The  town  of  Butte  was  located  in  the  fall 
of  1864,  and  in  1867  the  townsite  was  laid  out,  and  Butte  as  a  placor 
camp  reached  its  climax.  The  producton  of  placer  gold  decreased 
rapidly  from  this  date,  and  in  1880  it  had  become  almost  insignificant. 
The  low  grade  of  the  placer  gold,  which  sold  for  only  $14  to  $18  per 
ounce,  gave  some  indication  of  the  origin  of  this  gold.  That  is,  the 
prospecting  for  silver  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  belief  that 
gold  of  this  grade  must  have  come  from  veins  carrying  considerable 
silver,  although  it  should  also  be  stated  that  the  prominent  outcrops 
of  black  manganese  ore,  which  were  very  noticeable,  induced  the 
prospector  to  explore  them  below  the  surface  for  silver  ore. 

TBe  first  lode  location  was  made  in  the  winter  of  1864  and  1805, 
when  W.  L.  Farlin  located  a  claim,  calling  it  the  Asteroid,  having  found 
gold  in  the  outcrop.  This  claim  was  afterward  re-located  by  hm, 
and  called  the  Travona,  in  June,  1866.  Some  of  the  ore  was  roasted 
and  amalgamated,  and  an  ounce  of  silver  bullion  produced;  but  noth- 
ing was  done  towards  tfie  development  of  this  property  until  1875, 
when  Mr.  Farlin  erected  a  10  stamp  mill  and  furnace  near  the  mine, 
and  began  to  treat  the  ore  by  chloridizing — roasting  and  amalgama- 
tion. This  mill  did  not  turn  out  much  bullion  until  1876,  when  the 
Hon.  W.  A.  Clark  furnished  the  means  to  complete  the  Dexter  mill, 
as  it  was  called,  and  the  first  successful  treatment  of  the  base  silver 
ores  of  the  district  was  commenced. 

In  1868  the  Lexington  mill  was  built  for  the  treatment  of  ores 
by  the  free  milling  process.  This  mill  was  situated  in  a  gulch  near 
Wyoming  street,  between  Broadway  and  Granite.  It  was  purchased 
by  the  Lexington  Mining  Company  when  that  corporation  was  former] 
in  France,  and  a  50  stamp  mill  with  roasting  furnaces  was  built  near 
the  mine  in  1881. 

In  the  meantime,  discoveries  of  other  silver  veins  had  been  made, 
and  in  1875  Menery  and  Parckard  came  to  Butte  from  Salt  Lake 
and  located  a  claim  called  the  Aquisition  Spur.  They  took  out  some 
rich  silver  ore,  which  they  sent  to  Walker  Brothers  in  Salt  Lake. 
When  this  lot  was  sampled  the  returns  were  so  satisfactory  that 
Walker  Brothers  sent  Mr.  Marcus  Daly  to  this  district  to  look  into 
the  mining  prospects  generally.  He  arrived  here  in  1876,  took  a  bond 
on  the  Alice  mine  for  $5,000,  zoid  notified  Walker  Brothers.  Robert 
Walker  and  Prof.  John  E.  Clayton  came  to  Butte,  and,  after  looking 
over  the  property,  selected  the  site  of  the  present  main  shaft  of  the 
Alice  mine  as  a  suitable  place  for  sinking,  and  work  was  started  in 
the  summer  or  fall  of  1876.  Prof.  Clayton  gave  a  name  to  the  great 
lode  on  which  the  Alice,  Magna  Charta,  Veldemere  and  Moulton  claims 
are  located.  He  called  it  the  "Rainbow"  lode,  Irom  the  broadly, 
sweeping  curve  of  the  outcrop. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  205 

In  1877,  the  shaft  having  reached  a  depth  of  200  feet,  an  old  20 
stamp  mill  was  brought  up  from  Ophir  Canon,  Utah,  and  was  erected 
on  the  Alice  property.  It  was  arranged  for  dry  crushing  (water  in 
sufficient  quantities  for  wet  crushing  not  being  available)  and  the 
treatment  of  the  oxidized  or  free  milling  ores  was  begun  in  the  fall 
ol  1877.  In  1878  and  1879  a  White-Howell  roaster  was  added,  thus 
providing  for  the  chloridizing  roasting  of  the  sulphide  ores.  The  60 
stamp  mill  of  the  Alice  Company  was  built  in  1880,  and  was  equipped 
with  two  White-Howell  roasters  and  revolving  dryer. 

The  Moulton  mill  was  completed  about  the  same  time  as  the 
Alice,  and  was  equipped  with  40  stamps  and  White-Howell  roasters. 

In  1884  the  Blue  Bird  mine  was  purchased  by  a  London  company, 
and  a  90  stamp  mill  was  built  for  the  property  in  1886. 

The  mill  of  the  Silver  Bow  Mining  &  Milling  Company  was  "built 
in  the  early  eighties  for  the  treatment  of  ore  from  the  La  Plata  and 
other  mines  owned  by  the  company. 

The  climax  of  the  production  of  silver  ores  in  Butte  was  reached 
in  the  year  1887,  when  the  Alice  Company  was  running  80  stamps,  the 
Moulton  40,  the  Lexington  50,  the  Blue  Bird  90,  and  the  Silver  Bow 
30,  or  a  total  of  290  stamps.  The  amount  of  ore  worked  in  these  mills 
was  nearly  400  tons  per  day,  and  to  this  should  be  added  shipments 
of  silver  ore  to  the  smelters  probably  100  tons  per  day. 

All  of  this  ore  carried  gold  in  considerable  quantities,  and  the 
yield  was  probably  about  $25  per  ton  in  gold  and  silver. 

The  Anaconda  Company  was  first  organized  as  'the  Anaconda 
Silver  Mining  Company,  for  the  outcrop  of  the  vein,  while  showing 
some  copper,  seemed  to  give  promise  of  being  more  productive  in 
silver  than  in  copper.  In  the  year  1881  the  Dexter  mill  was  leased  for 
a  year  by  Mr.  Daly,  manager  of  the  Anaconda  Company,  and  shipments 
to  that  mill  amounted  to  8,000  tons  of  oxidized  silver  ore,  containing 
about  30  ounces  of  silver  per  ton.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this 
ore  contained  just  enough  copper  to  make  it  unnecessary  to  add  blue- 
stone,  in  the  raw  amalgamation  of  this  ore  the  resulting  bullion  was 
very  base — sometimes  running  only  about  400  fine.  The  ore  shipped 
to  the  Dexter  mill  came  from  where  the  Neversweat  hoist  now  stands, 
which  was  the  location  of  Mr.  Daly's  first  opening  of  the  great  Ana- 
conda lode.  At  a  depth  of  100  feet  a  drift  running  northeast,  ran  into 
copper  glance  a  few  inches  wide,  which  was  followed  about  200  feet. 

About  this  time  Mr.  George  Hearst  visited  the  district,  and  a 
place  was  selected  for  sinking  a  shaft  for  the  deep  exploration  of 
the  lode. 

The  present  location  of  the  main  Anaconda  shaft  was  determined 
upon  as  the  most  suitable  place  for  this  development.  A  cross  cut 
was  run  from  this  shaft,  when  it  had  reached  a  depth  of  36o  feet. 
In  this  cross  cut  five  feet  of  copper  glance  was  discovered,  and  ship- 
ments to  Swansea  began.  While  the  silver  veins  were  being  developed 
the  surface  showings  of  copper  ore  were  receiving  some  attention, 
and  an  effort  was  made  as  early  as  1867  to  smelt  same  of  the  ore  from 
the  Parrot  lode  in  a  little  furnace  built  near  that  property,  but  nothing 
of  practical  importance  was  accomplished. 

Mr.  Clark  turned  his  attention  to  the  copper  veins  of  the  district 
in  1872,  and  in  1873  and  1874~be  began  the  development  of  the  Original, 
Colusa,  Mountain  Chief  and  Gambetta  claims.  The  ore  produced  was 
shipped  400  miles  in  wagons  to  Corinne,  thence  by  rail  to  Swansea, 
and  to  buyers  of  copper  ore  in  this  country,  among  them  tne  Bostot) 
&  Colorado  Smelting  Company,  of  Black  Hawk,  Colorado.  In  1878 
Mr.  Clark  suggested  to  the  management  of  that  company  the  con- 
struction of  a  custom  copper  smelter  in  Butte.  and  Mr.  Henry  Williams 


206  OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 

was  sent  here  to  examine  and  report  on  the  outlook.  He  reported 
favorably,  and  in  1879  the  Colorado  &  Montana  Smelting  Company 
was  formed,  the  present  site  of  the  Colorado  smelter  was  purchased, 
and  a  local  market  for  copper,  as  well  as  the  silver  ore  of  the  dis- 
trict, was  established. 

The  importance  of  this  market  in  the  development  of  the  district 
is  shown  from  the  fact  that  one  shipment  of  35  per  cent  copper  ore, 
from  the  Green  Mountain  claim  to  Baltimore  works  in  1877,  gave  no 
profit  to  the  shipper  after  mining,  freight  and  reduction  costs  were  • 
paid,  and  yet  the  gross  value  of  the  ore  was  about  $130  per  ton  in 
copper,  for  the  average  price  that  year  was  18%  cents  per  pound. 
In  silver  and  gold  the  ore  carried  not  less  than  $50  per  ton.  The 
works  charged  a  high  price  for  treatment,  owing  to  the  presence  of 
arsenic,  which  made  the  metal  brittle. 

Soon  after  this  the  Parrot,  Montana  Copper,  Clark's  Colusa  and 
Bell  companies  began  smelting  operations.  The  matte  product  of  all 
these  smelters  was  shipped  to  Eastern  markets  for  refining.  In  1884 
the  Anaconda  smelter  added  its  output  to  the  stream  of  copper,  and 
the  prosperity  of  Butte  increased  rapidly.  The  formation  of  the  Butte 
Reduction,  Boston  &  Montana,  Butte  &  Boston,  and  Montana  Ore 
Purchasing  Companies  a  few  years  later,  greatly  increased  the  Butte 
production  of  copper. 

Important  events  in  the  development  of  Butte  were  the  comple- 
tion of  the  Utah  &  Northern  Railway,  from  Ogden  to  Butte,  in  De- 
cember, 1881,  the  connection  of  this  road  with  the  Northern  Pacific 
at  Garrison  September  8th,  1883;  the  coming"  of  the  Montana  Central 
in  1888,  and  the  completion  in  1890  of  the  Northern  Pacific  direct 
outlet  to  the  East,  over  to  Homestake  Pass  to  a  connection  with  the 
main  line  at  Logan. 

The  metallurgical  treatment  of  Butte  ores  Has  been  very  progres- 
sive. In  the  case  of  the  treatment  of  silver  ore  we  had  first  a  free 
milling  plant,  which  would  only  treat  ore  by  raw  amalgamation;  then 
followed  the  chloridizing  roasting  in  the  Dexter  mill  with  the  rever- 
beratory  furnace;  following  this  the  White-Howell  furnaces  in  the 
Alice  and  Moulton,  while  at  the  Lexington  and  Blue  Bird,  Stetfeldt 
furnaces  were  adopted.  These  mechanical  furnaces  were  a  great  im- 
provement upon  the  old  methods  of  roastfng. 

In  the  metallurgy  of  copper  more  important  improvements  have 
been  made.  For  instance,  in  calcining,  the  first  work  done  in  the  dis- 
trict was  in  the  old  furnaces  of  the  reverberatory  type,  and  the  cost  of 
treatment  was  not  much  less  than  $2  per  ton.  The  first  mechanical 
furnace  introduced  in  Butte  was  the  old  O'Hara  calciner,  which  was 
erected  by  Mr.  Clark  at  his  Colusa  works  in  Meaderville.  Then  came 
the  Breuckner  furnace,  which  brought  the  cost  of  calcining  down  to 
about  $1.2B  per  ton.  Soon  after  this,  improvements  were  made  in 
the  O'Hara  by  Messrs.  Allen  and  Brown,  and  furnaces  we're  built 
which  treated  50  tons  or  ore  per  day  at  a  cost  of  50  cents  per  ton. 
Then  came  the  Pearce  turret  furnace  in  1892,  with  a  cost  of  treatment 
about  the  same  a-j  in  the  O'Hara  above  mentioned.  Following  this 
were  furnaces  of  other  designs,  notably  the  Keller,  Wethey,  and 
Wethey-Holthoff;  and  finally  the  McDougall,  which  has  a  capacity  of 
40  tons  per  day,  and  in  which  the  cost  of  treatment  has  been  brought 
down  to  about  35  cents.  No  fuel  is  used  after  the  furnace  is  thoroughly 
heated  up  and  feeding  of  the  ore  has  begun.  The  Pearce  multiple 
hearth  furnace  should  be  mentioned  in  this  connection,  a  furnace  of 
this  type  having  been  recently  built  at  the  works  of  the  Colorado 
Company,  where  it  is  giving  very  satisfactory  results. 

In  reverberatory  smelting  the  capacity  of  furnaces  has  beeTi 
greatly  increased  by  enlargement  and  better  applications  of  the  heat, 
and  furnaces  are  now  running  on  Butte  ores  which  treat  more  than 
150  tons  per  day. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  207 

Blast  furnaces  have  also  been,  greatly  improved  and  enlarged, 
and  400  tons  of  ore  and  flux  per  day  are  now  run  through  many  of  the 
larger  furnaces  of  the  district. 

Up  to  the  year  1883  the  product  of  the  Butte  copper  smelters 
went  out  in  the  form  of  matte  but  in  that  year  the  Manhes  patents 
for  Bessemerizing  were  adopted  at  the  Parrot  smelter,  and  the  con- 
verting of  matte  into  black  copper  was  commenced.  The  first  converters 
built  at  those  works  had  a  capacity  of  only  3,000  pounds  of  matte  per 
charge,  while  at  the  Great  Falls  works,  which  were  built  in  1890, 
converters  were  installed  which  handled  an  average  charge  of  10,000 
pounds.  These  were  regarded  as  very  large,  until  the  new  works  at 
Anaconda  were  built,  where  the  converters  have  a  capacity  of  20,000 
pounds  per  charge. 

Early  in  the  year  1891  electrolytic  refining  works  were  added  to 
the  Anaconda  plant,  and  in  February  of  that  year  the  first  refined 
copper  from  this  state  was  shipped.  This  department  was  rapidly 
increased  to  a  capacity  of  9,000,000  pounds  per  month.  For  several 
years  the  electrolytic  residues  were  refined  at  Anaconda,  and  the  gold 
and  the  silver  separated.  The  electrolytic  works  of  the  Boston  & 
Montana  Company  at  Great  Falls,  with  a  capacity  of  about  4,000,000 
pounds  per  month,  commenced  shipping  cathodes  to  the  East  in  March, 
1893,  and  a  year  later  the  refined  copper  was  made  into  "wire  bars." 

In  the  following  tables,  which  have  been  compiled  from  all  avail- 
able sources  of  information,  it  may  be  noted  that  no  production  of 
copper  is  given  prior  to  1879,  although  shipments  of  copper  ore  in  con- 
siderable quantifies  were  made  before  tKat  year.  It  will  be  interesting 
to  note  the  average  price  of  the  metal  in  earlier  years. 

The  importance  of  Butte  as  a  producer  of  silver  and  gold  at  the 
present  time,  although  the  silver  mines  are  closed  down  owing  to  this 
low  price  of  the  metal,  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  our  copper  contains 
about  .0375  ounces  of  silver  and  $.0025  in  gold  for  each  pound  of  copper 
produced,  or,  approximately,  2*4  cents  in  the  precious  metals  for  each 
pound  of  copper.  On  this  basis  the  Butte  copper  yielded  in  1891, 
8,550,000  ounces  of  silver,  which,  at  55  cents  per  ounce,  amounted  to 
$4,702,500,  and  $570,000  in  gold,  or  a  total  of  $5,272,500. 

We  have  no  figures  at  hand  to  show  how  many  tons  of  ore  were 
mined  in  producing  the  2,841,791,572  pounds  of  copper  shown  in  the 
table,  but  it  may  be  taken  as  a  safe  estimate  that  the  average  yield 
of  copper  has  been  about  100  pounds  per  Ion  of  ore,  and  on  this  basis, 
over  28,000,000  tons  of  copper  ore  have  been  mined  in  the  Butte  dis- 
trict Sown  to  the  close  of  1901. 

Production  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  state  of  Montana  from  the 
year  1862  to  1900,  inclusive 

Year —  Gold.  Silver.  Total. 

Coin  value  $1.2929  per  oz. 

1862  to  1881,  inc $200,000,000  $11,000,000  $211,000,000 

1882 2.550,000  4,370,000  6,920,000 

1883 1,800,000  6,000,000  2,400,000 

1884 2,170,000  7,000,000  9,170,000 

1885 3,400,000  11,500,000  14,900,000 

1886 4,422,000  13,849,000  18,271,000 

1887 5,978,536  17,817,548  23,796,084 

1888 4.200,253  15,790,736  19,990.989 

1889 3,500,000  19,393,939  22,893,939 

IS90 3,300,000  20,363,636  23,663,636 

1891 2,890,000  20,139,394  23,029,394 

1892 2,891,386  22,432,323  25,323,709 

1893 3,576,000  21,858,780  25,434,780 

1894 3,651,410  16,575,458  20,226,868 

1895 4,327,040  22,886,992  27,214,032 

1896 4,380,671  20,324,877  24,705,548 


208 


OFFICIAL    PROCEEDINGS 


Year —  Gold.  Silver.  Total. 

Coin  value  $1.2929  pen  oz. 

1897 4,496,431        21,730,710          26,227,141 

1898 5,247,913        19,159,482          24,407,395 

1899 4,819,157        21.786,835          26,605,992 

1900 4,736,225        18,482,211          23,218.436 


$272,337,022    $332,461,921      $599,398,943 


257,144,343  ozs. 

MONTANA    COPPER    PRODUCTION. 

Lbs.  fine  Lake  Cu. 

Year.  Copper.  Av.  price.  Amount. 

1870 20  5-8 

1371 225-8 

1872 23 

1873 29 

1874 231-4 

1875 221-2 

1876 21 

1877 185-8 

1878 161-2 

1879 , 9,452,800  17  1-8  $  1,618,655 

1880 6,294,400  201-8  1,266,667 

1881. 14,631,680  181-8  2,652,050 

1882 9,058,284  181-2  1,675,782 

1883 24,664,346  15  7-8  3,915,464 

1884 43,093,054  137-8  5,979,161 

1885 , 67,797,864  111-8  7,542,512 

1886 57,611,485  11  6,337,263 

1887 78,700,000  111-4  8.853,750 

1888 98,504,000  162-3  16,410,766 

1S89 104,589,000  133-4  14,380,987 

1890 112,700,000  153-4  17,750,250 

1891 112,383,420  177-8  20,088,536 

1892 158,413,284  11 1-2  18,217,527 

1893 159,875,499  103-4  17,186,616 

1894 185,194,385  9.56  17,704,583 

1895 197,190,659  10.76  21,217,149 

1896 228,886,962  10.88  24,902,901 

1897 236,826,597  11.29  26,737,722 

1898 216,648,077  12.03  26,062  78,3 

1&99 ^  245,245,908  17.61  43,187,804 

1900 245,998,365  16.19  39,827,135 

1901 228,031,503  16.53  37,693,607 


2,841,791,572  Ibs. 


$381,209,650 


1,420,895  1572.2000  tons. 


INDEX 


Page. 

Title    Page    1 

Sessions  of  the  Congress 2 

Roster  of  Officers  Seventh  Annual  Session   3 

Roster  of  Officers  Sixth  Annual  Session   4 

Proceedings  of  Sixth  Annual  Session   5 

Address  of  Welcome  by  Mayor  E.  McDonald,  of  Deadwood 7 

"America's  Mining  Man,"  by  Ella  Purkiss  Dignowity 9 

Committee  on  Resolutions    15 

Committee  on  Credentials  15 

President's   Annual    Address 16 

Address  by  Hon.  Leslie  M.  Shaw   22 

Address  by  Col.  Ed.  F.  Brown   25 

Secretary's    Report 29 

Address  by  Russell,  of  North  Dakota 31 

"Good  Roads  for  Mines,-"  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Abbott. 32 

"Ore  Deposits  of  the  Northern  Black  Hills,"  by  Dr.  J.  D.  Irving; 

read  by  Dr.  E.  R.  Buckley   38 

"South  Dakota,"  by  Dr.  J.  E.  Todd  51 

Address  by  John  Blatchford    60 

Address  of  Welcome,  by  Hon.  E.  F.  Irvin  62 

Response  to  Address  of  Welcome,  by  President  Richards 63 

"Pyritic  Smelting,"  by  Dr.  F.  R.  Carpenter 71 

Address,  by  Hon.  E.  W.  Parker 75 

"The  Geology  and  Minerology  of  the  Black  Hills,"  by  Cleophas  C. 

O'Harra 87 

"The  Money  Metals  and  Their  Influence  Upon  Civilization,"  by 

Hon.  John  L.  Webster 94 

Report  of  Committee  on  Credentials    103 

By-Laws  of  The  American  Mining  Congress 121 

Resolution  Relative  to  the  Collection  of  Mineral  Statistics 126 

Resolution  as  to  Mineralized  Timber  Lands   128 

Resolution   Favoring    Home    Rule    and     Statehood     for     Arizona, 

Oklahoma  and  New  Mexico   130 


"A  Solution  of  Our  Interests  in  Money,"  by  Chas.  Albert  Long...  132 

"Aerial  Tramway  as  An  Economic  Means  of  Transportation,"  by 

Dr.  Stephen  de  Zombouy    149 

"The  Gold  Ores  of  San  Juan  County"  by  A.  H.  Elftman,  Ph.  D..  . .  152 

"Mechanical  Drying  of  Minerals,"  by  C.  O.  Bartlett 154 

Letter  from  Senator  Morgan,  of  Alabama 159 

Communications    169 

"Gold  Fields  of  the  East  and  Their  Low-Grade  Ores,"  by  C.  L. 

Dignowity    190 

Speech  by  Mr.  Martin   200 

Response  by  Mr.  Richards   201 

Meeting  of  Board  of  Directors   203 

"Notes  on  the  Development  of  Butte,"  by  C.  W.  Goodale 204 


REPORT  OF  PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE 

9 

SEVENTH  ANNUAL  SESSION 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN   MINING 
CONGRESS 


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CONTENTS 


Title  Page 1 

Sessions  of  the  Congress 2T 

Roster  of  Officers 5 

Roster  of  Officers  Seventh  Annual  Session    7 

Articles  .of  Incorporation 8 

By-Laws    9 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  SEVENTH  ANNUAL  SESSION. 

Address  and  Invocation.    Rev.  Father  McDevitt 13 

Address  of  Welcome,  by  Governor  George  E.  Chamberlain,  of  Oregon. . .  14 

Address  of  Welcome,  by  Mayor  George  H.  Williams,  of  Portland 16 

Response,  by  J.  T.  Small,  of  Maine 18 

Response,  by  J.  E.  Talmage,  of  Utah 19 

Response,  by  Zach  Lamar  Cobb,  of  Texas 20 

Response,  by  J.  T.  Cornforth,  of  Alaska 21 

Address  and  Presentation  of  Gavel,  by  B.  B.  Beekman,  of  Oregon 2? 

Response,  by  President  Richards 24 

Resolution  Urging  Creation  of  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining 27 

Resolution  Urging  Creation  of  Assay  Office  at  Portland 28 

Report  of  Committee  on  Permanent  Headquarters 33 

Resolution  Urging  Transfer  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  the  Care 

and  Management  of  All  Government  Forest  Reserves 35 

Resolution  Urging  Appointment  of  Congressional  Delegate  for  Alaska.  37 
Resolution  Urging  Amendment  of  U.   S.  Laws  Relating  to  Patenting 

Mining  Claims 48 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials 50 

Address  on  Permanent  Headquarters,  by  President  J.  H.  Richards 55 

Resolution   Urging  Opening  to   Settlement   of   South   Half  of  Colville 

Reservation   6T 

Secretary's  Report  * 71 

Report  of  Nominating  Committee 71 

Address  Acknowledging  Vote  of  Thanks,  by  President  Richards 72 

Address  and   Benediction 7(> 

INDEX  TO    PAPERS  AND   ADDRESSES  OF  1904  WILL   BE  FOUND 
ON  PAGES  3  AND  4  OF  PART  II.   OF  THIS  REPORT. 


President  J.  H.  Richards, 
Boise,  Idaho. 


OFFICIAL   ROSTER 

F  THE 

OFFICERS  AND  COMMITTEES 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS 

1905 


OFFICERS 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  President Idaho 

Col.    Thomas    Ewing,    1st   Vice-President California 

Dr.  E.  R.  Buckley,  2nd  Vice-President Missouri 

Mr.  A.  W.  Gifford,  3rd  Vice-President Texas 

Jas.  F.  Callbreath,  Jr.,  Secretary Colorado 

BOARD    OF    DIRECTORS 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  Idaho;  Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  California;  Dr.  E. 
.H.  Buckley,  Missouri;  Mr.  A.  W.  Gifford,  Texas;  Mr.  John  Dern,  Utah; 
-Mr.  J.  Frank  Watson,  Oregon;  Mr.  Joseph  T.  Cornforth,  Alaska;  Mr.  Geo. 
W.  E.  Dorsey,  Nebraska;  Mr.  William  Lennpx,  Colorado. 

PROGRAM  COMMITTEE. 

Dr.  E.  R.  Buckley,  Rolla,  Missouri;  Seeley  W.  Mudd,  Los  Angeles,  Cali- 
fornia; J.  F.  Callbreath,  Jr.,  Denver,  Colorado. 

LEGISLATION  COMMITTEE. 

J.  H.  Richards,  Boise,  Idaho;  J.  M.  Wright,  San  Francisco,  California; 
.J.  Warner  Mills,  Denver,  Colorado;  O.  W.  Ppwers,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah; 
P.  W.  Kimberly,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

TRANSPORTATION  COMMITTEE. 

A.  W.  Gifford,  El  Paso,  Texas;  Col.  A.  G.  Brownlee,  Denver,  Colorado; 
John  C.  Spry,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

FINANCE   COMMITTEE. 

Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  San  Francisco,  California;  Jas.  W.  Malcolmson,  El 
Paso,  Texas;  F.  Wallace  White,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Geo.  W.  E.  Dorsey,  Fre- 
mont, Nebraska;  David  H.  Moffat,  Denver,  Colorado. 

AUDITING  COMMITTEE: 

W.  F.  R.  Mills,  Denver,  Colorado;  Lyman  White,  Denver,  Colorado; 
-Jjohn  Dern,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

MEMBERSHIP   COMMITTEE. 

E.  A.  Colburn,  Denver,  Colorado;  H.  H.  Nicholson,  Lincoln,  Nebraska; 
M.  P.  Kirk,  El  Paso,  Texas. 

EIGHTH   ANNUAL  SESSION 

Meets  at  El  Paso,  Texas,  Nov.  14  to  18,  1905. 

PERMANENT   HEADQUARTERS,  DENVER,  COLORADO. 


OFFICIAL   ROSTER 

OF    THE 

OFFICERS  AND  COMMITTEES 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS 

Seventh  Annual  Session 

HELD  AT 

Portland,  Oregon,   August  22-27 
1904 


OFFICERS 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  President * Boise,  Idaho 

Col.  Thos.  Ewing,  1st  Vice-President Los  Angeles,  California 

R.  C.  Patterson,  2nd  Vice-President Omaha,  Nebraska 

J.  Frank  Watson,  3rd  Vice-President Portland,  Oregon 

Merchants  National  Bank,  Treasurer Portland,  Oregon 

Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary Carlisle,  Pennsylvania 

BOARD  OF   DIRECTORS. 

Hon.  J.  H.  Richards,  Idaho;  Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  California;  R.  C. 
Patterson,  Nebraska;  J.  Frank  Watson,  Oregon;  Col.  E.  F.  Brown,  Colo- 
rado; Dr.  J.  A.  Holmes,  North  Carolina;  John  Gray,  South  Dakota;  Hon. 
James  H.  Lynch,  Montana;  John  Dern,  Utah. 

LEGISLATIVE   COMMITTEE. 

Hon.  J.  H.  Mitchell,  United  States  Senator,  Chairman,  Oregon;  Hon. 
J.  H.  Richards,  Idaho;  Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  California. 

PROGRAM   COMMITTEE. 

R.  C.  Patterson,  A.  M.,  Chairman,  Nebraska;  J.  Frank  Watson,  Oregon; 
John  Gray,  South  Dakota. 

TRANSPORTATION   COMMITTEE. 

Irwin  Mahon,  Chairman,  Pennsylvania;  Hon.  J.  H.  Lynch,  Montana; 
Capt.  Thos.  K.  Muir,  Oregon. 

BUILDING   COMMITTEE. 

Col.  Thos.  Ewing,  Chairman,  California;  David  H.  Moffat,  Denver, 
Colorado;  J.  R.  Leonard,  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 


ARTICLES  OF  INCORPORATION 

OF 

THE  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  That  we,  the  undersigned,  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  have  this  day  voluntarily  associated  ourselves  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a  private  corporation,  not  for  profit,  under  and  by  vir- 
tue of  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Colorado,  and  we  do  hereby  set  forth  and 
declare,  as,  follows: 

First. 

That  the  name  of  this  corporation  is  and  shall  be  The  American 
Mining  Congress. 

Second. 

That  the  objects  for  which  this  corporation  is  formed  are:  — 

For  the  purpose  of  advancing  the  Mining  and  Metallurgical  Indus- 
tries, in  all  their  various  branches,  within  the  United  States. 

To  assist  in  bringing  about  a  more  perfect  co-operation  between  the 
government  of  the  United  States  and  the  development  of  mining  and; 
metallurgy;  to  encourage  education  in  practical  and  scientific  mining  and 
metallurgy,  and  the  dissemination  of  scientific  information  in  relation  to> 
mining,  metallurgy  and  their  allied  industries;  to  acquire  and  dissemi- 
nate trustworthy  information  bearing  upon  the  development  of  the  metal- 
lic and  non-metallic  mining  resources  of  the  United  States;  to  promote 
a  more  co-operative  tendency  in  the  evolution  of  agriculture,  mining, 
manufacturing,  transportation  and  commerce,  and  for  the  particular  pur- 
pose of  bringing  the  mining  men  of  the  United  States  into  closer  relations 
with  one  another,  and  of  promoting  a  friendly  feeling  for  one  another 
through  social  intercourse  and  the  discussion  of  mutual  interests. 

To  acquire,  hold  and  own  such  real  and  personal  property  as  may  be 
necessary  to  properly  carry  into  effect  the  purposes  hereinbefore  set  forth, 
and  to  perform  all  such  other  acts  and  things  as  may  be  necessary  to  the 
full  carrying  into  effect  the  said  purposes. 

Third. 

That  the  corporate  powers  of  this  corporation  shall  be  vested  in  a  board 
of  nine  directors,  and  the  names  and  residences  of  those  who  are  ap- 
pointed as  directors  for  the  first  year  of  the  life  of  this  corporation  and 
until  their  successors  are  elected  and  qualified,  are  as  follows: 

Name.  Residence. 

J.  H.  Richards Boise,  Idaho 

S.  W.  Russell Deadwood,  S.  D. 

E.  R.  Buckley Rolla,  Mo. 

Thomas  Ewing Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

Irwin  Mahon Carlisle,  Pa. 

Charles  W.  Goodale.  ^ Butte,  Mont. 

John  T.  Grayson Portland,  Ore. 

W.  L.  Kendall Cleveland,  O. 

L.  K.  Armstrong Spokane,  Wash. 

In  Witness  Whereof  we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands  and  seals  this 
25th  day  of  February,  1903. 

J.  H.  RICHARDS. 
S.  W.  RUSSELL. 
E.  R.  BUCKLEY. 
THOMAS  EWING. 
IRWIN  MAHON. 
CHARLES  W.  GOODALE. 
JOHN  T.  GRAYSON. 
W.  L.  KENDALL. 
L.  K.  ARMSTRONG. 


BY-LAWS 


ARTICLE   I. 
NAME. 

This  organization  shall  be  known  as  "The  American  Mining  Con- 
gress." 

ARTICLE  II. 
OBJECTS. 

This  corporation  is  formed  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  the  mining 
and  metallurgical  industries,  in  all  their  various  branches,  within  the 
United  States. 

To  assist  in  bringing  about  a  more  perfect  co-operation  between  the 
government  of  the  United  States  and  the  development  of  mining  and 
metallurgy;  to  encourage  education  in  practical  and  scientific  mining 
and  metallurgy  and  the  dissemination  of  scientific  information  in  relation 
to  mining,  metallurgy  and  their  allied  industries;  to  acquire  and  dissemi- 
nate trustworthy  information  bearing  upon  the  development  of  the  metal- 
lic and  non-metallic  mining  resources  of  the  United  States;  to  promote 
a  more  co-operative  tendency  in  the  evolution  of  agriculture,  mining, 
manufacturing,  transportation  and  commerce;  and  for  the  particular  pu» 
pose  of  bringing  the  mining  men  of  the  United  States  into  closer  rela- 
tion with  one  another,  and  of  promoting  a  friendly  feeling  for  one  another 
through  social  intercourse  and  the  discussion  of  mutual  interests. 

ARTICLE   III. 
MEMBERSHIP. 

Section  L  Any  person  actively  associated  with  mining,  who,  after 
his  application  has  been  approved  'by  the  committee  on  membership,  shall 
pay  an  initiation  fee  of  five  dollars  ($5.00),  shall  become  an  active  mem- 
ber of  this  Congress  and  thereafter  he  shall  pay  in  advance  an  annual  fee 
of  two  dollars  ($2.00)  and  shall  vote  and  enjoy  all  other  rights  and  privi- 
leges usual  to  members. 

Sec.  2.  Any  person  entitled  to  active  membership  in  this  Con- 
gress may,  upon  the  payment  of  fifty  dollars  ($50.00),  become  a  life  mem- 
ber, and  shall,  without  the  payment  of  further  annual  dues,  be  entitled  to 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  active  membership. 

Sec.  3.  Any  person  actively  associated  with  mining,  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  committee  on  membership,  shall,  upon  the  payment  of  a  fee 
of  one  dollar  ($1.00)  per  annum,  become  an  associate  member  of  this 
Congress,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  attend  the  sessions  and  participate  in 
the  deliberations  of  the  Congress,  but  shall  not  be  entitled  to  vote  or 
hold  office. 

Sec.  4.  Honorary  membership  may  be  conferred  upon  such  persons 
as  this  Congress  shall  deem  worthy  of  such  distinction.  Honorary  mem- 
bers may  be  elected  at  any  regular  meeting  of  the  Congress  upon  the 
recommendation  of  the  committee  on  membership  and  the  approval  of 
the  board  of  directors. 

Sec.  5.  No  person  who  shall  comply  with  the  requirements  of  this 
article  shall  be  denied  membership  to  this  Congress 


10  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

ARTICLE  IV. 
DELEGATES. 

A  chief  executive  of  any  country,  state  or  territory  may  appoint  as 
delegates  to  any  annual  session  of  this  Congress,  ten  (10)  persons  ac- 
tively associated  with  mining;  and  the  mayors  of  cities  or  towns,  boards 
of  trade,  boards  of  county  commissioners,  scientific  associations,  miners' 
organizations,  miring  bureaus,  chambers  of  commerce,  and  such  other 
business  organizations  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  designated  by  the 
executive  committee,  may  each  appoint  two  (2)  such  delegates,  and  each 
delegate  attending,  properly  accredited,  shall  be  entitled  to  participate  in 
the  deliberations  of  the  Congress. 

ARTICLE  V. 
DUES. 

Life  members  shall  pay  a  fee  of  fifty  dollars  ($50.00) ;  members,  an 
initiation  fee  of  five  dollars  $5.00)  and  annual  dues  of  two  dollars  ($2.00); 
associate  members,  annual  dues  of  one  dollar  ($1.00);  and  delegates 
nothing. 

ARTICLE  VI. 
OFFICERS. 

Section  1.  The  government  and  management  of  the  Congress  shall 
be  committed,  first,  to  a  board  of  directors  of  nine  members,  to  be  elected 
annually  by  the  Congress;  second,  to  a  president  and  three  vice-presidents, 
to  be  elected  by  the  board  of  directors  from  its  members;  and,  third,  to  a 
secretary  and  treasurer,  to  be  chosen  by  the  board  of  directors. 

Sec.  2.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  directors  to  annually  elect 
as  president,  vice-presidents,  secretary,  and  treasurer,  such  persons  as 
may  be  recommended  by  the  Congress. 

Sec.  3.  For  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  selection  of  officers,  there 
shall  be  annually  elected  by  the  Congress  at  its  second  day's  session,  a 
committee  of  five  members  to  be  known  as  a  nominating  committee,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  present  to  the  Congress  for  its  consideration  the  names 
of  such  persons  as  such  committee  may  deem  advisable  to  act  as  directors, 
and  officers  of  the  Congress  for  the  ensuing  year. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS. 

Section  1.  The  board  of  directors  shall  have  power  to  do  every  act 
and  thing  which  the  business  interests  of  the  Congress  may  require  ex- 
cept to  amend  or  repeal  these  by-laws,  but  nothing  in  these  by-laws  shall 
give  the  board  of  directors  the  right  to  do  any  act  or  thing  that  is  con- 
trary to  any  motion  or  resolution  adopted  at  any  previous  meeting  of  the 
Congress  or  that  is  contrary  to  any  of  the  provisions  of  the  charter  of 
this  Congress  or  of  the  by-laws.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  be  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  directors  or  to  hold  any  other  office  in  this  Congress, 
except  an  active  member  of  this  association  in  good  standing. 

Sec.  2.  A  vacancy  occurring  in  an  office  or  in  the  board  of  directors 
shall  be  filled  by  the  remaining  members  of  the  board,  and  the  officer  or 
member  of  the  board  so  elected  shall  hold  office  until  the  next  annual 
meeting  or  until  his  successor  is  elected. 

Sec.  3.  The  president  shall  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  Congress 
and  of  the  board  of  directors  and  shall  enforce  all  the  laws  and  the  regula- 
tions of  the  Congress.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Congress  he  shall 
report  for  the  board  of  directors  upon  its  proceedings  during  the  year  and 
recommend  such  measures  as  the  board  may  deem  advisable. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  11 

Sec.  4.  In  the  absence  of  the  president,  the  first  vice-president  shall 
perform  his  duties;  in  the  absence  of  both  president  and  first  vice-presi- 
dent, the  second  vice-president  shall  perform  the  duties  of  the  office;  in 
the  absence  of  the  president  and  first  and  second  vice-presidents,  the 
third  vice-president  shall  preside  and  perform  the  duties  of  the  office; 
and  in  the  absence  of  the  president  and  vice-presidents,  the  board  of  direc- 
tors may  select  a  chairman  from  its  members. 

Sec.  5.  The  secretary  shall  conduct  all  of  the  official  correspondence 
of  the  Congress.  He  shall  keep,  a  record  of  all  meetings  and  proceedings 
of  the  Congress  and  the  board  of  directors;  shall  collect  all  moneys  due  to 
the  Congress,  receipt  for  and  transmit  the  same  to  the  treasurer;  and 
shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  may  be  assigned  to  him  by  these 
by-laws,  by  the  Congress  or  by  the  board.  At  the  annual  meeting  he  shall 
report  in  detail  upon  the  membership  and  condition  of  the  Congress. 

Sec.  6.  The  treasurer  shall  receive  all  moneys  from  the  secretary, 
pay  all  bills  as  directed  by  the  president  and  countersigned  by  the  secre- 
tary and  keep  proper  vouchers  for  all  payments.  He  shall,  at  each  meeting 
of  the  board  of  directors,  present  a  statement  of  the  financial  condition  of 
the  Congress  and  shall  at  the  annual  meeting  submit  a  detailed  report, 
approved  by  the  finance  committee;  and  the  said  statement  and  reports 
shall,  at  all  times  after  their  presentation  or  submission,  be  open  to  the 
inspection  of  any  of  the  members  of  the  Congress. 

ARTICLE   VIII. 
COMMITTEES. 

Section  1.  The  following  additional  committees  shall  be  elected  by 
the  board  of  directors: 

An  advisory  committee,  to  be  composed  of  one  member  from  each 
state. 

A  committee  on  legislation,  of  five  members. 

A  committee  on  membership  of  seven  members. 

A  committee  on  transportation,  of  five  members. 

A  committee  on  auditing  and  finance,  of  five  members. 

A  committee  on  program  of  five  members,  to  which  committee  each 
paper  to  be  presented  before  any  meeting  of  the  Congress  shall  be  sub- 
mitted for  approval  in  advance  of  said  meeting,  except  such  papers  as 
may  be  presented  on  invitation  of  the  program  committee. 

Sec.  2.  The  president  shall  appoint  annually,  a  committee  on  creden- 
tials of  three  members,  and  a  committee  on  resolutions  of  twenty  mem- 
bers. The  names  of  the  members  comprising  these  committees  shall  be 
in  the  hands  of  the  secretary  at  the  opening  of  each  session  of  Congress. 

ARTICLE  IX. 
BONDS  OF  OFFICERS. 

Section  1.  The  treasurer  of  this  Congress  shall  give  bond  for  an 
amount  to  be  determined  by  the  executive  committee,  of  not  less  than 
five  thousand  dollars  ($5,000) ;  said  bond  to  be  approved  by  the  executive 
committee. 

Sec.  2.  The  secretary  shall  give  such  bond  as  may  be  required  by 
the  board  of  directors,  not  less  than  one  thousand  dollars  ($1,000). 

Sec.  3.  Bond  fees  of  the  treasurer  and  secretary  shall  be  paid  by 
the  Congress. 

ARTICLE  X. 

PUBLICATIONS. 

Section  1.  There  shall  be  published  annually  a  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  Congress,  including  such  papers,  presented  at  the  annual 
session,  as  may  be  approved  by  the  program  committee,  and  a  list  of  the 
names,  occupation  and  address  of  all  members  and  delegates. 


12  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Sec.  2.  The  board  of  directors  shall  have  the  proceedings  of  each 
session  copyrighted. 

Sec.  3.  All  members  and  delegates  shall  be  entitled  to  a  copy  of  the 
proceedings  of  each  annual  session  covered  by  their  dues. 

ARTICLE   XL 
RESOLUTIONS. 

All  resolutions  shall  be  submitted  to  the  secretary  in  writing,  read  by 
him  before  the  Congress  and  referred  to  the  committee  on  resolutions  for 
consideration  and  recommendations. 

ARTICLE  XII. 
TIME  AND  PLACE  OF  HOLDING  ANNUAL  SESSION. 

Section  1.  The  time  and  place  of  holding  the  annual  session  shall  be 
determined  by  the  board  of  directors. 

ARTICLE    XIII. 
ORDER  OF  PROCEEDINGS. 

Section  1.  The  sessions  of  this  Congress  shall  be  governed  by  Rob- 
erts' Rules  of  Order. 

Section  2.  The  first  day's  session  of  this  Congress  shall  be  under  the 
auspices  and  control  of  the  local  committee.  The  order  of  business  for 
the  remaining  sessions  shall  be  as  follows: 

1.  Report  of  committee  on  credentials. 

2.  Unfinished  business. 

3.  New  business. 

4.  Reading  of  resolutions. 

5.  Reports  of  committees. 

6.  Addresses  and  papers. 

7.  Adjournment. 

Section  3.  The  election  of  the  board  of  directors  and  the  adoption 
of  a  resolution  addressed  to  the  board  of  directors  naming  those  to  be 
elected  by  the  board  as  officers  of  the  Congress  for  the  ensuing  year,  shall 
be  a  special  order  for  two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  last  day. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 
AMENDMENTS. 

These  by-laws  may  be  amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  members 
present  upon  twenty-four  hours'  notice  in  writing  containing  the  amend- 
ment proposed. 


REPORT  OF  PROCEEDINGS 

of  the 

Seventh  Annual  Session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress 


Held  at  Portland,  Oregon,  August  22,  23,  24,  25,  26  and  27,  1904. 
The  Congress  convened  at  the  Armory,  Portland,  Oregon,  August  22, 
1904,  at  10  o'clock  a.  m.,  with  President  J.  H.  Richards  in  the  chair. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Reverend  Father  McDevitt  will  invoke 
the  divine  blessing  upon  our  proceedings. 

REVEREND  FATHER  McDEVITT:  Mr.  President  and  members  of 
the  American  Mining  Congress: 

To  his  Excellency  Governor  George  E.  Chamberlain  has  been  com- 
mitted the  pleasant  task  of  welcoming  you  to  the  great  State  of  Oregon. 
To  his  Honor,  George  H.  Williams,  mayor  of  this  city,  has  been  com- 
mitted the  pleasant  task  of  bidding  you  welcome  to  the  beautiful  city  of 
Portland.  To  your  humble  servant  has  been  committed  the  sacred,  sol- 
emn, pleasing  task  of  bidding  you  welcome  in  the  name  of  the  living  God. 
I  realize,  friends  and  fellow  citizens,  that  I  am  in  the  presence  of  splen- 
did human  intelligence.  I  believe  there  are  grand,  noble  and  generous 
hearts  throbbing  here  this  morning.  I  do  not  forget  that  we  are  all  chil- 
dren of  a  great  eternal  God,  and  that  without  His  divine  blessing,  no  mat- 
ter how  wise  we  may  seem  to  ourselves  to  be,  our  work  in  the  end  will 
be  futile  if  His  blessing  descends  not  upon  us. 

Allow  me  just  these  few  moments,  these  few  preliminary  remarks.  I 
hold  in  my  hand  here  what  many  choose  to  term  the  almighty  dollar.  Man 
has  stamped  it  ,but  man  has  not  made  the  metal  of  which  it  is  composed. 
Bright  though  you  may  be,  grand,  noble  American  citizens,  no  one  of  you 
has  the  wisdom  nor  the  power  to  bring  into  existence  the  metal  of  which 
that  little  dollar  is  composed. 

Now,  my  dear  friends,  from  the  depths  of  a  heart  that  is  throbbing 
within,  I  implore  from  our  Heavenly  Father  his  blessing  upon  you  this 
morning.  Long  ago  he  told  us,  "Unless  the  Lord  build  the  house  he  labors 
in  vain  that  builds  it."  So  it  will  be  with  your  Mining  Congress.  If  He 
blesses  you  not,  then  in  vain,  I  repeat,  will  be  your  labor,  no  matter  how 
wise  it  may  seem  to  you  to  be.  Mighty  is  the  power  of  prayer,  my  dear 
friends.  You  have  not  given  unto  yourselves  the  grand  intelligence  that 
presides  in  your  brains.  You  did  not  place  that  human  heart  within 
your  bosoms.  Without  His  divine  aid  you  cannot  think  aright  and  you 
cannot  feel  right. 

I  welcome  you  then  in  the  name  of  the  living  God  as  I  trust  you  are 
true  patriots,  that  you  have  not  come  here  with  any  selfish  motives,  but 
for  a  grand  and  a  glorious  purpose;  that  the  influence  of  this  Congress 
may  be  spread  far  and  wide,  not  only  for  your  own  benefit,  but  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor  men  who  are  this  morning  laboring  in  the  darkness 
of  the  mines.  May  the  great  eternal  God  who  has  given  wealth  to  the 
world,  who  has  made  the  universe  and  who 'rules  it,  may  He  bless  you 
this  morning.  I  ask  you  most  respectfully  to  re-collect  yourselves  whilst  I 
turn  to  that  great  Heavenly  Father  with  all  the  energy  of  my  immortal 
soul  and  say  that  grand  old  prayer  that  you  learned  in  your  childhood: 
Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  Thy  name,  Thy  kingdom 
come,  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread,  and  forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  those  who  tres- 
pass against  us.  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from 
evil.  Amen. 


14  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

May  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  de- 
scend upon  you  all  here  this  morning  and  remain  forever. 

At  this  point  the  visiting  Philippine  Commission,  under  the  charge 
of  Dr.  Arthur  W.  Ferguson,  came  upon  the  stage. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  We  have  the  honor  of  having  with  us  the 
Honorable  Philippine  Commission  to  the  St.  Louis  Exposition.  Dr.  Fer- 
guson, who  is  with  us,  will  state  to  you  the  purpose  of  this  Commission's 
visit  to  our  country. 

Dr.  Arthur  W.  Ferguson  then  made  a  short  address,  stating  the  pur- 
pose of  the  visit  of  .this  Commission  to  the  United  States. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  listen  to  an  address  of  wel- 
come by  George  E.  Chamberlain,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Oregon. 

GOVERNOR  CHAMBERLAIN:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men: It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  extend  to  you,  the  delegates  to 
the  American  Mining  Congress,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of  Oregon,  a  cor- 
dial welcome  to  our  state. 

It  matters  not  from  whence  you  come,  nor  what  flag  floats  over  you 
when  at  home,  the  genial  breezes  of  Oregon  are  balmy  enough,  the  homes 
of  our  people  hospitable  enough,  and  the  hearts  of  our  citizens  warm 
enough  to  insure  each  and  every  one  of  you  a  hearty  reception  and  a 
pleasant  stay  amongst  us. 

Oregon  feels  that  in  honoring  you  she  is  honoring  herself,  for  it  is 
seldom  indeed  that  any  state  has  an  opportunity  to  welcome  as  her  guests 
a  body  of  men  so  distinguished,  not  only  in  the  fields  of  commercial  and 
industrial  enterprise  and  activity,  but  as  well  in  governmental  affairs  of 
state  and  nation. 

You  have  assembled  here  to  consider  problems  affecting  one  of  the 
.greatest  industries  of  our  country,  and  to  take  steps  looking  to  its  ad- 
vancement. It  is  well  that  to  the  settlement  of  these  problems  and  the 
promotion  of  an  industry  so  vital  to  the  welfare  of  the  world  you  have  in- 
vited none  but  men  who  have  achieved  distinction  in  the  various  activities 
to  which  each  has  bent  the  best  energies  of  his  life. 

Permit  me  to  assure  you  that  it  is  peculiarly  gratifying  to  our  people 
that  Oregon  was  selected  as  a  place  for  holding  this,  the  seventh  annual 
session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress.  Without  disparagement  to  the 
phenomenal  strides  which,  in  the  past  few  years,  most  of  our  sister 
states  have  made  in  wealth  and  population,  I  think  I  may  safely  claim 
that  Oregon  occupies  no  second  place.  For  many  years,  and  until  quite 
recently,  she  occupied  an  almost  isolated  place  in  the  sisterhood  of  states, 
cut  off  by  lack  of  railroad  and  other  transportation  facilities  from  the  great 
world  of  business  and  commercial  enterprise.  Truly,  her  motto,  "Alis 
volat  propriis,"  was  peculiarly  appropriate.  She  had  none  of  those  adven- 
titious aids  which  other  states  have  been  able  to  claim  to  push  her  to  the 
forefront,  with  the  result  that,  while  our  neighbors  have  advanced  more 
rapidly  in  material  prosperity,  Oregon  now  stands  with  outstretched 
hands,  inviting  those  who  will  to  come  and  exploit  her  practically  unde- 
veloped resources. 

Even  if  my  time  were  not  limited,  it  would  hardly  be  proper  for  me 
to  do  more  than  merely  to  call  your  attention  to  strides  which  our  people 
have  made  in  the  last  few  years  in  everything  that  goes  to  the  upbuilding 
and  enrichment  of  a  magnificent  commonwealth.  Immense  bodies  of  land 
which  until  the  past  eighteen  months  have  never  felt  the  impress  of  the 
footsteps  of  man,  and  were  considered  as  fit  only  for  the  desolate  habita- 
tions of  the  coyote,  the  prairie  dog  and  the  jackrabbit,  have  been  re- 
claimed from  the  desert,  and  with  abundance  of  water,  snatched  by  the 
cunning  hand  of  man  from  snow-capped  peak  and  mountain  streams,  are 
.mantled  with  crops  of  cereals,  hay  and  fruits,  furnishing  homes  for  thou- 
sands of  sturdy  men  and  women. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  15 

Sections  of  the  state  which  in  years  gone  by  were  deemed  unfit  for 
cultivation,  have  proven  to  be  the  most  productive  and  of  wonderful  capa- 
bility in  the  growing  of  cereals  and  other  food  crops. 

The  livestock  interest,  although  many  of  the  ranges  have  been  con- 
verted into  wheat,  fruit  and  alfalfa  fields,  continues  to  grow  in  volume  and 
value/as  the  facilities  for  breeding  and  feeding  the  vast  herds  of  horses, 
cattle  and  sheep  improve  each  year.  Hills  and  valleys  that  were  once 
deemed  best  adapted  to  the  culture  of  wheat,  have  been  reluctantly  but 
profitably  abandoned  for  these  purposes,  and  here  may  now  be  seen  mag- 
nificent orchards  of  apples,  peaches,  pears,  prunes  and  cherries,  which  are 
coming  to  be  known  the  world  over  for  their  excellence  of  form  and 
flavor. 

Portland,  a  few  years  since,  without  a  single  line  of  transcontinental 
railway  to  bring  to  her  merchants  the  wares  of  the  East  or  the  products- 
of  the  interior,  now  finds  practically  centered  here  five  transcontinental 
railways  and  a  line  of  steamers  connecting  them  with  the  Orient.  From 
a  city  of  little  importance  she  now  occupies  the  fourth  place  in  the  United 
States,  and  promises  you  that  in  the  next  few  years  that  she  will  not  only 
occupy  the  first  place  in  this  regard,  but  will  step  rapidly  to  the  front  as 
a  great  exporting  and  importing  point  for  the  commerce  between  the  new 
and  the  old  East. 

And  how  is  it  with  the  mineral  resources  of  the  state?  They,  too,  are 
in  the  infancy  of  development.  Notwithstanding  this,  she  occupies  the 
tenth  place  in  the  roll  of  states  for  the  year  1903  as  a  gold  producer, 
having  credited  to  her  score  $1,364,341,  and  the  twelfth  place  as  a  silver 
producer,  having  credited  to  her  account  125,000  fine  ounces,  of  the  com- 
mercial value  of  $67,500.  What  a  remarkable  showing  for  a  state  that 
until  a  very  recent  date  has  practically  made  no  effort  to  develop  her 
mining  interests.  The  magnificent  mountain  ranges  that  parallel  each 
other  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  boundaries  of  the  state  bear 
in  their  bosoms  not  only  untold  millions  of  gold  and  silver  ,but  here, 
too,  are  mines  of  coal  and  copper  and  iron.  All  that  is  needed  for  the  de- 
velopment of  these  is  such  splendid  enterprise  and  brain  and  brawti  as 
characterize  the  distinguished  gentlemen  whom  we  are  to-day  proud  to 
hail  as  our  guests.  As  a  result  of  your  visit  to  us  I  venture  to  predict  that 
within  another  decade  Oregon  will  make  rapid  advances  to  a  first  position 
as  a  rich  producer  of  mineral  wealth. 

But  how  unfortunate  it  is  that  an  industry  of  such  vast  importance 
to  national  and  international  commerce,  and  so  magnificent  in  promise, 
has  received  so  little  attention  at  the  hands  of  the  lawmakers  of  state  and 
nation.  What  has  been  heretofore  accomplished  has  been  due  to  indi- 
vidual enterprise  and  effort.  Our  country  little  realizes  what  it  owes  to 
you,  gentlemen  of  this  Congress,  and  to  others  like  you  who  have  braved 
the  frost  of  winter  as  well  as  the  prostrating  and  fever-laden  heat  of 
summer;  who  have  coveted  death  in  all  its  forms  and  shrunk  from  neither 
hardship  nor  danger  in  order  to  open  up  to  an  advancing  civilization  the 
great  storehouses  of  nature.  But  you  have  yet  new  fields  to  enter  upon 
and  conquer,  and  you  are  here  to  devise  the  ways  and  means  for  successes 
in  the  future. 

And  first,  you  should  make  your  voices  heard  in  the  halls  of  Con- 
gress. An  industry  of  such  importance  to  the  world  as  is  that  which  you 
have  the  honor  to  represent,  should  have  a  place  in  the  Cabinet  of  the 
President.  It  was  long  before  the  rights  of  the  great  agricultural  interests 
of  the  country  were  recognized  by  Congress,  but  now  all  appreciate  the 
value  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  It  was  long  before  the  law-mak- 
ing power  could  be  made  to  see  and  appreciate  the  value  of  a  Department 
of  Commerce  and  Labor,  yet  who  would  now  consent  to  its  abolishment? 
These  great  interests  were  able  to  make  themselves  heard  and  understood, 
and  constant  knocking  at  the  doors  of  Congress  forced  for  them  a  reluc- 
tant recognition.  Why  cannot  the  mining  interests  of  this  great  country 
of  ours  make  their  voices  heard  where  others  have  been  heard  before? 


16  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Without  the  wealth  that  our  mines  afford  and  add  each  year  to  the  capital 
of  the  commercial  world,  all  industries  would  shrink  and  stagnation  in  all 
the  fields  of  activity  and  enterprise  would  be  the  inevitable  result. 

And,  second,  there  should  be  state  recognition  of  the  mining  industry. 
Here,  too,  is  a  field  open  for  your  combined  effort  and  enterprise.  A 
bureau  established  with  proper  safeguards  and  restrictions  so  that  it 
would  be  for  the  benefit  of  a  class  engaged  in  exploiting  the  rich  re- 
sources of  the  state,  and  not  for  an  individual  whose  sole  aim  and  ambi- 
tion is  to  draw  a  munificent  salary,  would  do  much  to  elevate,  promote 
and  stimulate  the  mining  industry. 

I  might  suggest  other  matters  for  your  earnest  and  united  considera- 
tion, but  time  and  the  proprieties  of  the  occasion  bid  me  leave  such  sugges- 
tions to  men  of  wider  and  riper  experience. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  I  bid  you  most  cordial  welcome.  All  we 
have  to  give  is  yours,  while  Oregon  is  honored  by  your  presence.  We  ask 
you  to  enjoy  our  wealth  of  fruits  and  flowers,  our  fertile  hills  and  beauti- 
ful valleys  decked  in  gorgeous  raiment  of  undying  green;  our  lofty  peaks, 
snow-capped  and  sun-crowned,  rearing  their  massive  heads  to  heaven 
here  and  there  and  everywhere,  inspiring  the  hearts  and  minds  of  all  be- 
holders and  bringing  them  to  a  realization  of  the  near  and  majestic  pres- 
ence of  the  Almighty;  our  magnificent  mountain  ranges  clad  from  crest 
to  base  with  abundant  and  towering  forests  and  bearing  within  their  gen- 
erous breasts  riches  that  rival  the  wealth  of  "Ormus  or  of  Ind." 

These  and  all  the  beauties  of  sky  and  landscape  with  which  a  benefi- 
cent Providence  has  blessed  us  we  bid  you  enjoy,  and  rest  assured  that 
Oregon  and  her  people  will  feel  amply  repaid  if  when  you  return  to  your 
distant  homes  you  will  cherish  none  but  pleasant  memories  of  your  visit 
Jiere. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  As  it  is  now  necessary  for  our  guests  from 
the  Orient  to  take  their  departure,  I  suggest  as  a  matter  of  respect  that  we 
remain  standing  while  they  leave  us. 

(The  audience  thereupon  arose  and  remained  standing  while  its  guests 
departed  from  the  hall.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  be  favored  by  an  address  by 
George  H.  Williams,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Portland. 

MAYOR  WILLIAMS:  Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen:  When  we  speak 
of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  we  understand  that  it  is  a  body  of 
representatives  from  all  parts  of  the  American  Union  assembled  to  make 
laws,  and  when  we  speak  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  we  understand 
it  to  be  a  body  of  representatives  from  all  parts  of  the  same  Union  assem- 
bled to  consider  an  industry  in  which  all  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  are  mjore  or  less  interested.  To  constitute  what  may  properly  be 
called  a  Congress,  a  body  assuming  that  name  should  have  a  national  char- 
acter. 

Mining  is  the  chief  cornerstone  of  the  business  world.  It  is  as  much 
the  foundation  of  our  manufacturing  industries  as  the  earth  is  the  founda- 
tion of  the  structures  in  which  those  industries  are  conducted.  Mining 
products  in  the  various  forms  and  agencies  into  which  they  have  been 
converted  have  done  more  for  the  advancement  of  trade  and  commerce 
than  all  other  causes  combined.  Without  iron,  coal  and  copper  as  the 
basis  of  commercial  appliances  our  transportation  by  land  would  go  back 
to  the  pioneer  days  of  pack  mules  and  our  transportation  by  water  to 
the  pettiness  of  the  Indian  canoe.  Without  iron  there  could  be  no  steel, 
and  without  steel  the  machinery  of  our  factories  would  be  on  a  grade 
with  the  old-fashioned  New  England  looms.  Railroads,  telegraphs  and 
telephones  would  be  impossible  if  there  were  no  iron,  steel  or  copper  to  be 
employed  in  their  construction  and  use. 

More  than  $500,000,000  worth  of  coal  was  mined  in  this  country  within  * 
the  last  year  and  some  opinion  of  its  usefulness  may  be  formed  from  the 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  17 

distressing  results  of  the  coal  miners'  strike  in  Pennsylvania  in  1902. 
No  estimate  can  be  made  of  the  value  of  mining  products  in  the  trans- 
mission of  intelligence,  the  creation  and  transportation  of  commodities, 
and  in  provisions  for  the  comfort  of  the  people. 

All  civilized  nations  refuse  to  recognize  anything  as  real  money  that 
is  not  taken  out  of  the  bosom  of  the  earth  by  the  toil  and  sweat  of  the 
miner.  Financial  institutions  everywhere  depend  upon  gold  and  silver 
for  their  support.  The  business  world,  without  gold  and  silver  for  a 
circulating  medium,  would  be  like  the  human  system  without  blood  in  its 
veins.  Lately  there  has  been  a  great  agitation  in  this  country  over  the 
currency  question,  and  we  are  told  that  it  is  settled.  If  it  is  settled,  the 
miners  have  settled  it.  The  miners  of  the  country  and  not  the  politicians 
have  established  the  gold  standard.  The  gold  miner  with  his  pick  ax  has 
answered  the  argument  for  a  cheap  and  fluctuating,  currency.  Consider- 
ing the  interests  involved,  it  seems  that  a  mining  congress  is  an  appro- 
priate if  not  a  necessary  institution.  In  a  multitude  of  counsellors  there  is 
wisdom.  There  is  ,a  decided  advantage  in  the  consultation  of  men  who 
have  a  practical  knowledge  of  mining,  for  one  man  may  know  of  ways 
and  means  for  profitably  conducting  the  business  not  known  to  another, 
and  if  each  contributes  what  he  knows  to  a  common  fund  of  knowledge, 
then  the  knowledge  of  all  becomes  the  knowledge  of  each,  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  each  the  knowledge  of  all. 

Science  and  experience  produce  new  and  improved  methods  of  con- 
ducting mining  operations.  Congress  ought  not  be  inattentive  to  the 
mining  interests  of  the  country.  Nature  has  stamped  the  country  west 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  with  rough  and  rugged  features,  but  to  com- 
pensate for  this  has  buried  in  its  mountains,  rocks  and  rivers,  the  precious 
metals  in  unstinted  prodigality.  California,  Nevada,  Utah,  Montana,  Idaho, 
Washington  and  Oregon  are  great  states,  all  of  which  are  bound  together 
by  a  network  of  metallic  veins  whose  riches  are  not  unlike  the  wealth  of 
"Orus  and  of  Ind." 

If  it  should  be  decided  to  fix  a  permanent  place  for  the  meetings  of 
the  Mining  Congress,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  ought  to  be  somewhere  in 
this  large  mining  region,  and  I  know  of  no  location  more  desirable  than 
the  City  of  Portland  for  that  purpose.  Time  was  in  the  early  history  of 
the  country  when  it  was  thought  necessary  for  the  convenience  of  the 
people  that  the  meetings  of  a  state  Legislature  should  be  located  as 
nearly  as  practicable  in  its  geographical  center,  but  steam  and  elec- 
tricity have  exploded  that  idea,  and  the  prevailing  opinion  now  is  that 
such  meetings  should  be  in  the  most  prosperous,  healthful  and  beautiful 
city  of  the  state;  but  if  geographical  considerations  are  to  weigh  upon 
this  question,  then  it  is  only  necessary  to  say  that  Portland  is  midway 
between  the  vast  mineral  riches  of  Alaska,  British  Columbia  and  Wash- 
ington and  the  mines  of  California,  Nevada  and  Colorado.  Portland  is 
easily  accessible  by  land  and  water.  For  all  purposes  of  travel  it  is  the 
terminus  of  three  transcontinental  railroads,  and  ocean-going  ships  from 
all  parts  of  the  commercial  world  fly  their  streamers  in  its  harbor.  Now- 
adays, when  one  starts  on  a  journey  it  makes  little  difference  whether 
he  goes  500  or  2,500  miles,  as  traveling  in  a  Pullman  car  or  on  a  palatial 
steamship  is  little  more  than  a  luxurious  respite  from  the  labor  and  care 
of  business  at  home. 

It  is  not  a  sin  to  combine  pleasure  with  business.  Assuming  that 
the  meetings  of  the  Mining  Congress  will  be  held  in  the  summer  time, 
as  they  now  are,  I  can  confidently  say  that  there  is  no  city  in  the  United 
States  in  which  the  meetings  of  the  Congress  would  be  more  pleasant 
than  they  would  be  in  this  city.  Some  days  our  sunshine  is  as  hot  as  it  is 
elsewhere,  but  the  atmosphere  is  enlivened  by  a  steady,  cool  breeze  from 
Northern  latitudes,  so  that  the  heat  of  the  day  is  not  oppressive,  and 
the  nights  are  always  cool  and  comfortable.  Our  average  summer  tem- 
perature is  about  66  degrees.  We  have  no  cyclones  or  blizzards,  and 
storms  accompanied  by  thunder  and  lightning  are  few  and  far  between. 


18  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

I  have  not  witnessed  more  than  a  dozen  of  these  since  I  came  to  Oregon 
over  fifty  years  ago.  Our  city  is  supplied  with  water  from  a  mountain 
stream  thirty  miles  distant,  and  scientific  examination  shows  it  to  be  as 
free  from  impurities  as  any  water  that  flows. 

Excursions  seem  to  be  a  fashionable  part  of  conventions,  and  for 
such  enjoyment  you  can  go  100  miles  up  the  Columbia  River,  whose  mag- 
nificent scenery  of  towering  cliffs,  deep  canons  and  splendid  water  falls 
is  unsurpassed  anywhere  in  grandeur  and  beauty;  or  you  can  go  down  the 
Columbia  River  100  miles  to  the  seaside  and  revel  in  the  freshening 
breezes  or  bathe  in  the  invigorating  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean;  or  you 
can  go  by  electric  car  lines  into  the  rural  districts  of  the  state.  Prolific 
sources  of  enjoyment  for  the  sportsman  may  be  found  in  forests,  fields, 
lakes  and  rivers,  easily  accessible  from  Portland. 

Portland  is  a  prosperous  and  healthful  city,  and  in  scenic  beauty 
and  surroundings  we  believe  it  to  be  unequated  by  any  city.  We  are  de- 
sirous of  giving  Portland  that  prominence  to  which  it  is  entitled  on  ac- 
count of  its  natural  advantages  and  attractions,  and  we  hope  that  the  im- 
pressions made  upon  the  members  of  this  Congress  at  this  meeting  will 
be  helpful  to  us  in  that  direction.  Portland  feels  flattered  and  honored  by 
your  meeting  here.  We  are  pleased  to  have  with  us  so  many  representa- 
tive men  from  all  parts  of  our  great  country.  We  feel  a  deep  interest  in 
the  subjects  you  will  have  to  consider.  Mining  is  one  of  the  leading  in- 
dustries of  Oregon.  I  am  here  to  welcome  you  to  this  city.  Whatever  is 
good  here,  we  want  you  to  have,  and  whatever  is  beautiful  here  we  want 
you  to  see.  Make  yourselves  at  home  and  be  happy.  I  trust  that  your 
meeting  will  not  only  be  of  advantage  to  Portland,  but  of  benefit  to  the 
whole  country,  and  a  credit  and  honor  to  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  listen  to  a  response  to  these 
addresses  of  welcome,  by  Honorable  J.  T.  Small  of  the  State  of  Maine. 

MR.  J.  T.  SMALL,  OF  MAINE:  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the 
American  Mining  Congress:  This  is  really  a  surprise  to  me  to  be  called 
on  so  early  in  the  proceedings  of  this  Congress.  I  did  not  know  until  nine 
o'clock  this  morning  that  I  was  to  respond  in  behalf  of  the  good  old 
State  of  Maine.  I  regret  very  much  that  our  Chief  Executive  is  not 
present  himself,  because  I  feel  my  inability  to  represent  the  State  of 
Maine  at  this  great  Congress.  But,  Mr.  President,  I  want  to  say 
to  you  that  I  listened  to  the  remarks  of  the  Honorable  Mayor  of  Port- 
land with  great  pleasure.  While  we  are  not  known  as  a  great  mining 
state,  we  can  produce  the  finest  ice  that  is  manufactured.  We  have  the 
finest  mineral  springs  that  flow  out  of  the  known  earth,  the  Cold  Springs 
of  Maine,  only  a  few  miles  from  the  City  of  Lewiston,  my  native  city, 
We  have  also  forests  in  Maine.  We  have  the  finest  kind  of  spruce,  but 
it  is  getting  a  little  scarce  at  the  present  time.  We  have  sometimes  to 
come  to  Oregon  to  get  the  masts  for  o<ur  ships  that  we  build  on  the 
Kennebec  River  at  Bath.  You  gentlemen,  probably  recognize  and  know 
the  location  of  Bath.  It  is  not  only  a  lumber  country  and  an  ice  country 
and  a  spring  country,  but,  after  all,  gentlemen,  we  have  some  mines  down 
in  Maine;  we  have  gold,  we  have  silver,  we  have  lead  and  we  have  cop- 
per. But  we  are  so  modest  in  our  demands  that  we  do  not  dare  to  branch 
out  a  great  deal  over  this  country  and  compete  with  you  Western  miners 
to  sell  stock.  I  think  that  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  I  could  load  a  good 
large  roomy  freight  car  with  worthless  mining  stocks  in  New  England. 
Now,  that  may  look,  apparently,  as  though  I  had  exaggerated,  but  I  don't 
think  I  have.  I  think  they  would  have  to  be  baled  in  order  to  get  them 
into  a  freight  car.  Now,  we  in  New  England,  are  very  much  interested 
in  this  Congress  and  what  is  going  to  be  done  in  regard  to  this  matter 
of  mining  stocks  and  mining.  I  say  to  you,  gentlemen — and  I  speak 
guardedly— that  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  more  men  in  the  State 
of  Maine  interested  in  mining  than  there  are  in  the  State  of  Oregon,  I 
mean  financially;  men  who  have  money  invested  in  every  mine  I  might 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  19 

say,  in  the  United  States.  Now,  apparently,  there  are  only  a  few  of  us 
here,  but,  gentlemen,  every  honest  citizen  of  the  United  States  who  has  a 
few  dollars  to  invest  is  watching  the  actions  of  this  Congress  to-day  to 
see  what  our  deliberations  will  be  looking  to  the  protection  of  the  in- 
vestor, and  it  stands  us  in  hand  that  we,  as  it  has  already  been  stated 
here  this  morning,  use  good  sense  and  judgment  and  demand  of  the 
national  Congress  a  representative  in  the  President's  Cabinet,  for  the 
greatest  industry,  in  my  judgment,  the  world  knows  to-day,  mining. 

Now,  gentlemen,  the  State  of  Maine  has  sent  out  many  people  to 
build  up  other  states,  men  who  are  making  their  homes,  and  whose  sons 
and  daughters  are  making  their  homes  in  this  and  other  states,  not  only  in 
Oregon,  but  in  every  Western  state.  You  may  go  in  any  state  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  find  representative  men  from  the  State  of  Maine, 
and  I  hope  and  trust  they  are  an  honor  to  the  State  of  Maine.  It  is  an  old 
saying  that  speech  is  silver,  and  silence  golden,  but  dividends  are  the  cli- 
max of  all.  So,  let  us  work  hereafter  for  the  dividends. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  be  favored  by  a  response 
from  the  State  of  Utah,  by  Dr.  Talmage. 

MR.  J.  E.  TALMAGE  (of  Utah) :  Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the 
Congress:  I  assure  you  it  is  with  peculiar  pleasure  that  I  respond  to 
the  request  of  my  colleagues  to  step  to  the  platform,  make  a  graceful  bow 
and  say  thank  you  in  behalf  of  Utah,  the  young  sister  in  our  grand  collec- 
tion of  states.  I  was  not  aware  until  I  came  into  this  room  that  this  honor 
was  reserved  for  me,  but  I  embrace  it  all  the  more  gladly  and,  in  respond- 
ing to  the  hearty  welcome  expressed  by  his  Excellency,  the  Governor  of 
Oregon,  and  by  the  Honorable  Mayor  of  Portland,  I  can  simply  say  that 
Utah  appreciates  the  hospitality  extended  to  our  representatives  here 
and  to  those  who  have  come  from  other  parts  of  the  great  United  States 
of  America. 

Utah  occupies  a  peculiar  position,  geographically  speaking,  in  the 
great  inter-mountain  region,  noted  the  world  over  for  its  enormous  min- 
eral wealth.  I  am  hardly  prepared  to  say,  as  has  been  so  eloquently  de- 
clared by  the  venerable  Mayor  of  Portland,  that  we  can  claim  so  ex- 
actly a  central  and  geographical  position  for  Utah  or  any  one  of  its  cities 
as  has  been  claimed,  with  respect  to  the  great  mining  West;  but  I  believe 
that  the  State  I  represent  is  located  within  easy  reach  of  the  great  mining 
centers  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  a  region  that  tells  of  geological 
changes  in  the  past,  of  great  upheavals  and  mighty  convulsions  that  have 
prepared  the  receptacles  for  gold,  silver,  copper  and  lead,  and  all  the 
metals  that  go  so  far  in  making  our  industries  what  they  are.  I  believe 
that  Utah  can  express  her  thanks  cordially  because  she  hopes  some  day 
to  hear  an  expression  of  the  same  kind  from  some  of  you  coming  within 
her  doors. 

Portland  has  been  represented  as  an  excellent  city  for  the  permanent 
headquarters  of  the  Mining  Congress.  It  would  be  perhaps  with  poor 
grace  for  me  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  offered  me  in  speaking 
these  few  words  of  response  to  the  welcome,  to  urge  the  claims  of  my 
own  State  in  that  connection.  And  since  it  may  be  invidious  perhaps  to 
compare  state  with  state,  I  will  say  that  while  Utah  is  not  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  as  some  people  have  seemed  to  suppose,  it  is  nevertheless  a  part  of 
it,  and  I  will  add  that  Salt  Lake  City  is  proud  enough  to  think  of  herself 
very  much  as  Portland  thinks  of  herself. 

We  have  had  many  pleasant  gatherings  of  this  Congress  in  the  past  in 
the  different  states  of  the  West,  and  sometimes  beyond  the  eastern  limit 
of  what  is  generally  known  as  the  region  of  the  Far  West,  and  I  believe 
every  one  has  been  attended  with  great  results.  From  the  heartiness 
with  which  the  delegates  have  been  here  received,  and  from  the  kind  assist- 
ance promised,  I  have  no  doubt  that  this,  the  seventh  annual  session  of 
the  American  Mining  Congress,  of  men  interested  in  mining  matters  and 
in  the  development  of  this  great  industry,  will  be  likewise  productive  of 


20  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

great  and  lasting  results,  and  if  such  be  the  case,  Portland  will  have 
cause  for  an  ever-living  pride. 

The  words  that  have  been  spoken  with  respect  to  the  establishment 
of  a  Cabinet  office,  and  the  appointment  of  an  officer  therefor,  tp  repre- 
sent the  mining  interests  of  the  country,  have  been  spoken  in  a  proper 
place,  and  at  a  fitting  time  and  in  a  very  eloquent  manner.  And  should 
any  action  taken  here  result  in  the  attainment  of  that  much  desired  end, 
I  believe  that  the  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining  will  always  be  thought 
of  in  future  history  in  connection  with  Portland,  the  great  City  of  the 
West.  Therefore,  we  beg  that  a  continuation  of  the  assistance  that  is 
offered  be  rendered  by  Portland,  and  by  Oregon,  and  by  all  the  great 
states  and  cities  of  the  Western  region,  in  the  attainment  of  this  pur- 
pose. 

Gentlemen,  once  again  I  say  in  behalf  of  Utah,  I  thank  you  most 
heartily  for  the  welcome,  and  earnestly  ask  you  to  give  us  of  Utah  a 
chance  to  welcome  you  to  our  home. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  be  favored  by  a  response  by  Mr. 
Zach  Lamar  Cobb  from  the  great  State  of  Texas. 

MR.  Z.  LAMAR  COBB,  OF  TEXAS:  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of 
the  Congress,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  appreciate  the  honor  of  appearing 
before  you  to  respond  to  the  cordial  and  eloquent  words  of  welcome 
which  have  been  spoken  this  morning,  and  in  assuming  this  responsibility 
I  only  take  courage  through  thinking  of  the  people  and  of  the  region 
which  I  have  the  honor  and  privilege  to  represent.  We  have  come  a  great 
distance  to  this  Congress:  from  El  Paso  on  the  border  of  Mexico,  to 
Portland,  your  beautiful  city  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  is  a  distance  of  over 
two  thousand  miles,  and  we  have  come  every  mile  prompted  by  the  in- 
terest we  have  felt  in  the  purposes  of  this  Congress.  Every  word  that 
has  been  said  by  your  honored  Governor  and  by  your  distinguished  Mayor, 
has  met  with  a  hearty  response  in  the  appreciation  of  our  delegation 
from  El  Paso.  What  your  Governor  has  said  about  the  mountains  and 
valleys  has  impressed  us  upon  our  trip  into  the  city.  But,  sirs,  when  we 
return  to  Texas,  when  we  leave  Portland  of  the  Northwest  for  El  Paso, 
the  great  city  of  the  great  Southwest,  I  will  return  remembering  one  thing 
more  than  your  highest  mountains,  more  than  your  most  fertile  valley, 
more  than  anything  I  have  seen;  I  will  return  to  Texas  happy  in  'the 
rosebuds  that  I  have  seen  in  the  cheeks  of  your  Oregon  women.  And  I 
am  here  to  tell  you,  fellow  citizens,  that  the  people  of  Texas — that  great- 
est and  largest  State  in  the  American  Union — are  in  accord  with  you  in 
the  interests  of  the  mining  industry.  I  believe  that  when  the  time  comes 
Senator  Bailey  and  Senator  Culberson  will  be  voting  on  the  side  of 
"Aye"  in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  Cabinet  office  for  this  depart- 
ment. I  am  here  to  say  one  thing  more  than  that.  When  you,  the  people 
of  this  great  Rocky  Mountain  region,  help  us,  the  people  of  the  great 
Southwest,  to  give  statehood  to  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  there  will  be 
four  more  votes  for  you  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

This  is  a  congress  of  miners;  in  appearance,  if  not  in  practical  ex- 
perience, I  am  a  miner.  I  come  to  you  as  the  representative  of  El  Paso. 
While  we  are  proud  to  be  within  the  domain  of  Texas,  it  is  not 'our  claim 
alone  to  be  one  of  her  cities,  but  we  come  as  the  metropolis  of  the  great 
Southwest.  El  Paso,  seated  on  the  border,  is  at  the  corner  as  it  were  of 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  Northern  Old  Mexico.  Situated  there, 
she  is  the  metropolis  of  a  vast  region;  it  is  six  hundred  miles  before  you 
come  to  a  city  of  equal  size.  For  three  hundred  and  more  miles  we  are  un- 
rivaled. There  is  no  city  to  compete  with  us  in  this  region.  And  in 
speaking  to  you  a  few  words  about  mines  this  morning,  within  that  region 
of  which  El  Paso  is  the  proud  metropolis  and  in  which  she  has  no  com- 
petitor, I  come  to  contest  the  point  advanced  by  your  honored  Mayor. 
He  tells  you  that  Portland  is  the  center  of  the  mining  region.  I  tell  you, 
fellow  citizens,  that  taking  as  a  whole  the  United  States  and  Mexico — 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  21 

the  mineral  producing  country  of  the  American  continent — El  Paso  is  the 
center  and  hub  of  it  all.  I  would  say  nothing  in  disparagement  of  my 
friends  from  Salt  Lake,  but  I  ask  you  to  look  at  the  badges  which  they 
wear,  and  you  will  see  that  the  map  printed  upon  their  badge  shows 
that  every  claim  of  Salt  Lake  rests  upon  the  staff  of  El  Paso..  -The  gen- 
tleman from  Maine  has  well  .said  that  it  would  take  a  box  car  to  hold  the 
stocks  held  in  his  country.  I  might  answer  that  it  might  take  a  box  car 
to  hold  the  mining  stock  sold  from  El  Paso.  But,  friends  and  fellow  citi- 
zens, it  takes  nine  great  trunk  railroads  to  haul  the  mineral  that  is  pro- 
duced around  El  Paso.  A  few  years  ago  El  Paso  and  her  region  were  com- 
paratively unknown  in  mining;  Arizona  had  but  begun  in  the  industry  of 
copper  mining.  To-day  around  Bisbee  and  the  other  centers  of  Arizona,  is 
produced  one-fifth  of  the  entire  copper  output  of  the  United  States. 
Across  the  artificial  border  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico — in 
Northern  Sonora,  is  a  production  of  copper  equivalent  to  that  of  Southern 
Arizona.  So,  friends,  Northern  Sonora  and  Southern  Arizona  combined 
produce  copper  equal  to  forty  per  cent,  of  the  production  of  the  United 
States.  This  is  in  the  territory  of  El  Paso.  A  few  years  ago  mercury  had 
never  been  mined  in  our  portion  of  the  country.  To-day  Texas,  in  her 
mines  at  Shafter,  produces  mercury  in  such  quantities  that  she  ranks  sec- 
ond to  only  one  state  in  the  Union.  Texas  also,  in  her  broad  expanse,  has 
sulphur  deposits  of  such  quality  and  extent  when  developed,  as  to  supply 
the  entire  domain  of  the  United  States.  New  Mexico,  with  her  variety  of 
minerals,  with  her  iron,  stands  ready  to  back  El  Paso.  But,  greater  than 
this,  Old  Mexico,  a  place  to  be  distinguished  in  the  near  future  in  the 
mining  industry,  is  supplied  entirely  through  the  American  gateway,  El 
Paso,  on  the  silvery  Rio  Grande.  To-day  Old  Mexico  produces  more  silver 
than  the  United  States.  The  Northern  part  of  Old  Mexico  shows  an  in- 
crease in  the  production  of  gold,  while  the  United  States  shows  a  de- 
crease for  the  past  year.  So,  friends,  I  point  you  to  El  Paso,  the  mistress 
of  three  hundred  and  more  miles  around — El  Paso,  the  center  of  mining 
in  the  great  Southwest — El  Paso,  the  gateway  of  Mexico,  El  Paso,  the 
proud  city  and  the  metropolis  of  the  Southwestern  country.  Now,  speak- 
ing for  the  richest  mining  country  on  this  American  continent,  .scarcely 
started  in  its  development  as  yet,  a  country  of  which  I  shall  speak  more 
to  you  later  in  this  convention,  speaking  for  Texas,  Arizona,  New  Mexico 
and  Northern  Mexico;  speaking  for  El  Paso,  the  brightest  jewel  of  an 
international  diadem;  speaking  for  my  home  and  my  town;  speaking  for 
the  richest  mining  country  of  them  all,  El  Paso,  friends  and  fellow  citi- 
zens, brings  you  greeting. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  listen  to  a  response  from  the 
last  but  not  least — the  Honorable  J.  T.  Cornforth  of  Alaska,  who  had  more 
to  do  with  promoting  the  American  Mining  Congress  than  any  other  in- 
dividual. 

MR.  J.  T.  CORNFORTH  (of  Alaska) :  Mr.  President,  Mr.  Governor, 
Mr.  Mayor,  and  delegates  to  this  American  Mining  Congress :  It  is  so  long 
since  I  have  met  a  body  of  mining  men  in  session  to  discuss  mining  with 
them  that  I  feel  almost  out  of  place.  When  I  first  went  to  Alaska  they 
called  me  a  "Che  Chako."  Afterwards  they  said  I  was  a  "Sour  Dough." 
Now,  returning  to  this  convention,  which  I  had  a  proud  part  in  organizing 
seven  years  ago,  I  must  say  that  I  feel  here  that  I  am  a  "Che  Chako" 
again,  and  not  a  "Sour  Dough."  Mr.  Governor  and  Mr.  Mayor,  we  thank 
you  in  the  name  of  Alaska,  but  more  particularly  the  Alaska  Club  of  Seat- 
tle, for  extending  to  us  the  welcome  that  you  have.  We  come  from  the 
newest  part  of  this  great  Republic  representing  a  hardy  and  different  set 
of  men  than  now  mine  in  the  Middle  United  States,  if  we  call  it  the 
Middle,  for  we  in  Alaska  are  yet  nearly  two  thousand  miles  or  more  to 
the  west  of  the  older  possessions  of  the  United  States;  it  is  these  people 
I  represent,  and  for  whom  I  am  going  to  speak.  You  will  bear  with 
me  when  I  say  I  had  no  expectation  of  saying  one  word  to  this  Conven- 


22  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

tion.  I  have  never  spoken  in  a  convention  of  miners'  organization.  My 
voice  has  always  been  silent.  I  have  felt  that  it  would  be  more  appro- 
priate for  scientific  men  to  address  you  than  a  common  mining  man  like 
myself.  But,  I  will  start  to  business,  for  a  mining  man  always  likes  to 
commence  business. 

When  this  Mining  Congress  was  first  organized  this  country  was 
experiencing  hard  times.  This  Mining  Congress  had  its  origin  because 
of  hard  times.  We  felt  that  the  miners  were  not  receiving  justice  at 
the  hands  of  our  Legislators  in  Washington,  and  we  felt  that  something 
must  be  done  to  restore  mining  to  its  proper  position  and  so  drive  the 
prospector  into  new  fields  for  the  discovery  of  that  which  our  Legislators 
demanded,  gold.  We  in  Alaska  have  given  you  gold,  and  we  are  going 
to  give  you  more  gold  in  ten  years  from  to-day  than  Johannesburg  in 
Africa  gives  to  Great  Britain.  We  organized  this  institution,  believing  it 
was  for  the  best  interest  of  the  mining  community  that  a  Department  of 
Mines  and  Metallurgy  should  be  established  to  give  to  the  miners  the 
same  benefits  as  the  Department  of  Agriculture  gives  to  the  agriculturists, 
who  send  their  soil  to  the  Department  for  purposes  of  analysis  and  are 
informed  in  return  what  the  soil  is  capable  of  producing.  But  lo,  the 
poor  miner  receives  no  such  consideration.  I  would  like  to  qualify  that. 
We  have  a  Geological  Department  that  does  much  for  us,  but  we  don't 
have  a  Department  of  Metallurgy  to  assist  the  prospector  to  the  extent 
that  he  should  be  assisted.  We  need  a  department  where  our  ores  can 
be  analyzed,  not  for  gold  arid  copper  alone,  but  for  the  by-products,  which 
are  most  profitable  to  the  smelting  interests.  I  remember  an  instance 
many  years  ago  in  Colorado,  where  a  friend  of  mine  was  selling  ore  to 
be  treated  by  a  certain  secret  process,  at  about  five  hundred  dollars  per 
ton.  He  took  it  upon  himself  to  send  one  carload  of  that  same  ore  across 
the  water  to  a  foreign  country,  and  after  paying  all  charges  upon  that  ore 
for  smelting. and  separation,  transportation  and  all  other  charges,  he  re- 
ceived over  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a  ton  instead  of  the  five  hundred 
that  he  had  received  from  the  same  ore  at  home. 

Gentlemen,  I  am  speaking  here  for  the  prospector,  the  men  who  make 
the  trails,  the  men  who  blaze  the  trees,  the  men  who  clear  land,  the  men 
who  make  it  possible  for  others  to  follow.  The  discoveries  that  have  been 
made  in  Alaska  in  the  last  six  years  are  greater  than  those  that  have  been 
made  in  any  other  section  of  the  world,  under  the  same  difficulties;  and 
I  say  to  you  in  all  consideration,  in  regard  to  the  production  of  gold,  that 
I  believe  the  production  of  gold  in  Alaska  this  year  will  be  greater  than 
in  any  previous  year.  But,  remember  that  much  of  the  gold  of  Alaska 
is-  paid  for  purchases  made  in  Dawson,  which  is  in  the  British  Yukon 
country;  and  it  is  a  great  source  of  revenue  to  Dawson,  in  British  Colum- 
bia, to  receive  the  trade  of  the  miners  of  Fairbanks  and  other  centers  of 
mining.  That  gold  does  not  figure  in  the  product  of  Alaska  but  is  given 
to  the  production  of  the  Yukon. 

Gentlemen,  further  on  in  the  Convention  there  are  some  points  I 
desire  to  refer  to.  I  wish  to  substantiate  what  the  Governor  of  this  great 
State,  and  the  Mayor  of  this  most  beautiful  and  magnificent  City,  in  which 
we  are  to  be  domiciled,  have  said.  I  should  like  to  refer  to  the  import- 
ance of  mining,  what  relation  it  has  to  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States. 
They  spoke  of  the  enormous  production.  But  to  simplify  it  so  that  we 
can  better  understand  it,  I  have  noted  these  facts : 

"The  factories  and  the  manufactories  of  the  United  States,  the 
varied  industries,  produce  a  tonnage  for  the  railroads  of  one-seventh; 
the  great  forests  give  to  the  great  railroads  one-fifth  of  the  tonnage;  the 
farm  products  of  which  we  hear  so  much,  that  there  is  an  insufficiency 
of  cars  every  year  to  move,  and  as  to  which  it  is  said  that  other  inter- 
ests must  stop  for  the  purpose  of  moving  this  grain,  it  only  produces  one- 
ninth.  The  mines  have  produced  more  than  one-half  of  all  the  tonnage 
that  the  railroads  haul  from  port  to  port,  from  city  to  city." 
(Applause.) 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  23 

These  are  not  new  statements,  but  they  emphasize  the  importance 
of  mining  in  a  way  that  should  appeal  to  every  man  here,  every  delegate, 
to  raise  his  voice  in  behalf  of  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Metallurgy.  I 
believe,  if  you  will  take  these  matters  into  serious  consideration,  you  will 
see  that  we  will  have  hard  times  no  more;  we  will  never  have  hard  times, 
in  my  opinion,  after  the  establishment  of  a  Department  of  Mines  and 
Metallurgy.  I  believe  that  the  production  of  gold  or  the  coinage  of  money 
in  the  United  States  will  be  of  such  importance  that  it  will  not  only  fur- 
nish the  balance  of  the  Old  World  with  gold,  but  it  will  so  enhance  the 
value  of  everything  that  the  farmer  has  to  sell  that  the  price  of  his 
wheat  will  not  be  fixed  in  London,  but  will  be  fixed  in  the  United  States 
of  America.  The  miner  likes  to  pay  high  prices;  he  wishes  for  high 
wages,  he  wishes  for  all*  Americans  to  prosper,  and  to  have  all  of  the  good 
things  of  this  earth,  and  that  is  the  reason  he  is  not  opposed  to  the  value 
of  the  products  of  the  United  States,  enhancing  in  proportion  to  the  pro- 
duction of  metallic  money,  of  gold  money,  which  he  will  produce  to  pay 
ail  the  debts  that  we  owe,  to  continue  their  prosperity,  and  to  give  to 
every  man  everything  that  he  desires,  everything  that  will  advance 
him  in  education  and  intelligence,  and  make  a  better  citizen  of  him. 
Without  money  we  have  poor  citizenship.  We  remember  that  it  was  the' 
hard  times  that  produced  Coxey's  army.  We  do  not  want  these  conditions 
to  return.  It  is  due  to  the  wisdom  and  intelligence  of  the  mining  men 
who  produce  and  give  to  the  railroads  something  like  fifty-three  per  cent, 
of  the  whole  tonnage  of  the  United  States,  to  see  that  hard  times  should 
not  be  made  at  the  pleasure  of  any  one,  but  that  the  farmer  and  manu- 
facturer and  all  classes  and  professions  should  go  hand  in  hand,  so  that 
we  may  go  on  to  that  brighter  galaxy  so  fittingly  portrayed  in  the  address 
given  by  the  representative  from  the  Lone  Star  State, 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS  then  introduced  Mr.  B.  B.  Beekman  of  Ore- 
gon, who  addressed  the  Congress  in  part,  as  follows: 

MR.  BEEKMAN  (of  Oregon):  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the 
American  Mining  Congress:  Imbued  with  a  firm  belief  in  the  exceptional 
mineral  resources  and  wonderful  possibilities  of  Southern  Oregon,  the 
people  of  that  section  welcome  with  pleasure  and  delight  the  convocation 
of  the  American  Mining  Congress  in  this  State.  In  common  with  other 
portions  of  Oregon  they  desire  to  attract  attention  to  the  opportunities 
here  presented  for  safe  and  profitable  investment.  Confident  that  an  in- 
vestigation of  this  field  will  secure  the  favorable  opinion  and  consideration 
of  capital,  the  miners  and  the  mining  men  of  the  State  at  large  and  of 
Southern  Oregon  in  particular,  have  looked  forward  with  eager  anticipa- 
tion to  this  occasion.  They  are  hopeful  that  this  gathering  shall  not  only 
prove  a  source  of  pleasure,  instruction  and  profit  to  delegates  and  visitors, 
but  that  it  will  also  materially  contribute  to  the  growth  and  upbuilding 
of  the  mining  industry  throughout  the  State. 

Acting  upon  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  George  H.  Himes,  the  assistant 
secretary  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society,  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Jack- 
sonville, the  oldest  town  in  Southern  Oregon,  and  concededly  the  oldest 
mining  town  in  the  State,  now  avails  itself  of  the  privilege  and  opportunity 
of  presenting  to  the  President  of  your  body  an  appropriate  souvenir  of 
this  occasion.  As  a  native-born  of  that  old  mining  town,  and  as  the 
representative  of  its  people  and  its  Board  of  Trade,  and  on 'behalf  of  the 
people  of  Rogue  River  Valley  and  of  Southern  Oregon  in  general,  I  now 
take  pleasure  in  presenting  to  you  as  a  token  of  appreciation  of  the  pres- 
ence of  this  Congress  here,  and  of  the  aims  and  purposes  of  this  organiza- 
tion, this  gavel,  fashioned  from  the  beautiful  wood  of  a  manzanita  that 
grew  upon  Rich  Gulch,  the  scene  of  the  first  big  gold  discovery  in  this 
State,  and  adorned  with  a  plate  made  of  gold  dug  during  the  spring  of 
this  year  from  the  despoiled  but  still  somewhat  auriferous  bed  of  that 
same  old  gulch.  It  bears  appropriate  inscription,  and  we  trust  that  it 
will  serve  as  a  pleasing  reminder  of  a  pleasant  sojourn  in  our  midst. 


24  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

With  it  we  extend  our  heartiest  greetings  and  most  cordial  welcome  to 
you  all,  and  express  the  hope  that  when  your  deliberations  here  are 
ended  many  of  you  will  find  it  convenient  and  opportune  to  visit  the 
scenes  of  the  early  days  of  gold  mining  in  Oregon. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS  responded  in  part,  as  follows:  This  gavel, 
in  the  hands  of  him  whose  right  it  is  to  preside,  typifies  authority.  When 
wielded  by  intelligence,  it  commands  respect  and  compels  obedience;  but 
when  wielded  by  ignorance  there  are  none  so  poor  to  do  it  reverence. 
It  will  only  be  through  your  kind  assistance  and  generous  consideration 
of  the  many  weaknesses  your  chairman  may  possess  that  I  shall  be  able 
to  wield  it  with  that  character  of  intelligence  which  is  fitting  a  body  of 
this  kind. 

This  gavel,  I  am  fully  conscious,  was  not  a  gift  to  me  personally  so 
much  as  to  express  an  historical  event  relative  to  the  progress  of  mining, 
through  the  American  Mining  Congress,  and  in  that  light  it  speaks  of  the 
explorers,  Lewis  and  Clark,  who  revealed  this  great  Northwest  to  the 
civilized  world;  it  speaks  of  those  who  followed  them,  the  emigrant,  the 
pioneer  that  marked  his  pathway  across  the  plains  to  the  mountains,  of 
those  who,  grown  weary  with  an  almost  endless  journey  and  hardships, 
fell  by  the  wayside.  It  speaks  of  the  prospector,  the  man  who  sleeps  be- 
neath the  stars  in  the  summer  time,  burrows  in  the  snow  in  the  winter, 
and  reveals  to  humanity  the  riches  of  the  mineral  world. 

So  far  as  this  present  pertains  to  myself,  I  have  no  adequate  lan- 
guage to  express  my  gratitude.  That  can  only  come  through  fidelity 
and  fitness  for  the  duties  you  have  called  upon  me  to  perform.  So  far  as 
it  pertains  to  the  Mining  Congress,  I  know  that  I  have  the  right  and  au- 
thority in  the  name  of  the  Congress  to  thank  those  gentlemen  for  the 
kindly  sentiments  they  have  expressed  and  the  purpose  they  intended 
to  perpetuate  as  an  historical  event  in  the  history  of  mining  in  this  coun- 
try, and  in  the  name  of  the  Congress  I  thank  them. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Secretary  has  some  announcements 
to  make,  after  which  an  adjournment  will  be  in  order. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA,  NEBRASKA:  Mr.  President: 
Before  we  adjourn  this  session  I  would  like  to  make  a  motion  that  the  Chair 
appoint  a  committee  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  prepare  a  set  of  resolu- 
tions, in  memory  and  in  honor  of  that  one  who  has  departed  this  life 
since  we  last  met,  the  Hon.  John  T.  Grayson,  a  member  of  this  body  and 
an  honored  officer.  And  I  would  move  you,  sir,  that  a.  committe  of  three 
be  appointed  by  the  Chair  to  prepare  such  resolutions  and  to  present  the 
same  to  this  body  before  the  session  closes. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  and  upon  being  put  by  the  Chair,  was  de- 
clared carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  will  announce  the  Committee  at  the  in- 
coming of  the  session  this  afternoon. 

MR.  STAPLES,  OF  FALL  RIVER,  OREGON:  I  would  like  to  announce 
that  I  have  in  my  possession  two  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  specimens 
from  the  section  of  which  Mr.  Beekman  has  just  spoken,  and  as  soon  as  a 
place  can  be  provided  I  intend  to  place  them  on  exhibition. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  look  after  it.  I  announce  the 
following  members  to  compose  the  Committee  on  Resolutions:  Dr.  E.  R. 
Buckley,  Missouri;  Prof.  J.  E.  Talmage,  Utah;  E.  G.  Reinhart,  Colorado; 
Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  California;  J.  Frank  Watson,  Oregon;  C.  L.  Digno- 
wity,  Pennsylvania;  J.  T.  Small,  Maine;  Hon.  H.  S.  Hamlin,  Colorado;  F. 
Wallace  White,  Ohio;  Col.  F.  V.  Drake,  Oregon;  Prof.  E.  Haworth,  Kan- 
sas; Hon.  O.  W.  Powers,  Utah;  Hon.  J.  F.  Callbreath,  Colorado:  M.  D 
Leehey,  Washington;  Jas.  H.  Lynch,  Montana;  Hon.  G.  W.  E.  Dorsey, 
Nebraska;  T.  A.  Rickard,  New  York;  E.  B.  Braden,  Montana;  S.  F.  Em- 
mons,  Washington,  D.  C.;  J.  W.  Malcomson,  Texas. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  25 

To  constitute  the  Committee  on  Credentials,  the  Chair  announced 
the  following: 

Philip  S.  Bates,  Oregon;  M.  P.  Gilbert,  California;  R.  C.  Patterson, 
Nebraska. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Relative  to  the  question  of  resolutions, 
under  the  by-laws  of  this  organization,  each  resolution  must  be  read  in 
open  session  and  then  will  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
for  its  action.  A  meeting  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  will  be  held 
at  1:30  o'clock  P.  M.,  headquarters,  Third  Infantry,  left  side  of  hall 
going  out. 

Thereupon,  upon  motion  duly  seconded  and  carried,  an  adjournment 
was  taken  to  2  o'clock  P.  M. 


FIRST    DAY— AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

August  22,  1904,  2  o'clock  P.  M. 

The  Congress  was  called  to  order  by  the  President. 

The  Secretary  announced  that  regular  meetings  of  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions  would  be  held  daily  at  8  o'clock  A.  M.  in  the  Field  and  Staff 
Office  near  main  entrance  of  the  Armory. 

That  a  special  meeting  of  said  committee  would  be  held  at  the  same 
place  immediately  after  adjournment  of  the  morning  and  afternoon  ses- 
sions. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  resolution  offered  by  O.  W.  Powers 
of  Utah: 

Resolved,  that  the  special  order  of  business  for  Thursday  at  2 
P.  M.  shall  be  the  consideration  and  determination  of  the  permanent 
headquarters  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

The  Secretary  also  read  Resolution  No.  4,  offered  by  Dr.  E.  R.  Buck- 
ley, amending  Article  12,  Section  1,  and  Article  13,  Section  3. 

Also  a  resolution  known  as  Resolution  No.  1,  introduced  by  J.  H. 
Richards,  advocating  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Under  our  by-laws  these  resolutions  will 
be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  The  question  relating  to 
the  amendment  of  the  by-laws  requires  twenty-four  hours'  notice,  so  that 
after  the  expiration  of  twenty-four  hours'  notice  the  question  which  has 
just  been  read  can  be  taken  up. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  At  the  suggestion  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee it  becomes  my  privilege  and  duty  to  present  to  you  the  annual 
address  of  the  President  of  this  Congress.  It  is  also  suggested  by  the 
Committee,  perhaps  for  reasons  best  known  to  them,  that  I  read  this 
address  so  that  it  may  be  exact,  expressing  clearly  just  what  was  in- 
tended to  be  expressed.  So,  if  you  will  bear  with  me  for  a  time  I  will  read 
this  address. 

The  President's  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS  then  introduced  Mr.  W.  D.  Fenton  of  Ore- 
gon, who  delivered  a  very  interesting  address  on  the  subject,  "The  Lewis 
and  Clarke  Exposition." 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  listen  to  an  address  by  Mr.  Har- 
vey W.  Scott  of  the  Oregonian.  His  subject  is  "The  Relation  of  Mining  to 
the  World's  General  Advancement." 

This  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  This  closes  the  program  as  provided  by 
your  Committee  on  Program  for  this  session.  What  is  your  further 
pleasure? 


26  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

MR.  HARRY  S.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:  I  would  like  to  ask  with  refer- 
ence to  resolutions,  what  is  the  decision  of  the  Chair  as  to  when  resolu- 
tions may  be  introduced  by  members. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  They  may  be  introduced  at  any  time 
when  no  other  business  occupies  the  attention  of  the  Congress,  then  read 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

MR.  HARRY  S.  JOSEPHS,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  Nichols  has  a  resolution 
to  introduce. 

PROFESSOR  NICHOLS:  I  have  the  following  resolution  to  intro- 
duce this  afternoon: 

Resolved,  that  Thursday  afternoon  at  2  o'clock  be  fixed  as  the 
time  for  determining  where  the  permanent  headquarters  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress  shall  be  fixed." 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  have  been  requested  by  the  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  to  request  you  at  the  close  of  this 
session  to  bring  your  credentials  into  the  corner  room  as  you  go  out  of 
the  hall. 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  I  have  a  resolution 
to  offer,  which  I  will  read: 

"Whereas,  by  the  late  decision  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  upon 
the  interpretation  of  the  Teller  law  relating  to  the  survey  of  mineral  lands 
whereby  monuments  on  the  ground  should  govern,  and  not  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  patent  thereof  in  the  survey  of  an  adjoining  claim;  and, 

Whereas,  such  interpretation  will  work  vast  injury  to  the  present 
patented  mining  lands  by  reason  that  it  would  open  the  way  to  falsify 
positions  of  mining  claims; 

Resolved,  that  it  be  the  sense  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  in 
convention  assembled  at  Portland,  Oregon,  August  22nd  to  27th,  1904, 
that  such  interpretation  be  reversed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  so 
that  the  description  of  mining  claims  as  indicated  in  the  patent  thereof 
and  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  various  surveyor  generals  of  the  different 
States  of  the  United  States  govern  in  a  survey  of  all  adjacent  mining 
claims. 

Resolved,  further,  that  a  copy  of  this  resolution,  together  with  the 
recommendation  thereof,  be  forwarded  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  resolutions  and  the  documents  Will 
be  referred  to  the  committee. 

On  motion  duly  seconded  the  Congress  adjourned  until  August  23, 
1904,  at  10  o'clock. 


SECOND   DAY— MORNING   SESSION. 

August  23,  1904,  10  o'clock,  A.  M. 

The  President  called  the  Congress  to  order. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  announcements: 

Notice  is  hereby  given  that  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions  will  be  held  daily  at  8  A.  M. 

A  special  meeting  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  will  be  held  Tues- 
day immediately  after  adjournment  of  the  opening  session  of  the  Con- 
gress. 

The  following  resolutions  were  offered: 

By  T.  A.  Rickards,  of  New  York: 

Whereas,  this  Congress  earnestly  desires  to  see  the  business  of  min- 
ing placed  on  a  safe  basis;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  records  its  appreciation  of  the  success- 
ful efforts  of  the  Post  Office  Department  of  the  National  Government  in 
preventing  the  misuse  of  the  mails  for  fraudulent  mining  schemes. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  27 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  resolution  will  be  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions. 

An  invitation  was  extended  to  the  Congress  by  George  H.  Himes, 
Secretary  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society,  to  visit  the  rooms  of  the 
Society  at  the  City  Hall. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  report  of  the  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions: 

Committee  Room,  August  22,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  following" 
resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  2,  introduced  by  Hon.  O.  W. 
Powers  of  Utah,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recommends  its  adoption  by  the 
Congress. 

J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 
E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 

RESOLUTION  NO.  2. 
By  O.  W.  Powers: 

Resolved,  that  the  special  order  of  business  for  Thursday  at  2  P.  M. 
shall  be  the  consideration  and  determination  of  the  location  of  the  per- 
manent headquarters  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

Committee  Room,  August  22,  1904 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  1,  introduced  by  Hon.  J.  H. 
Richards,  of  Idaho,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recommends  its  adoption  by 
the  Congress. 

J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 
E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 

RESOLUTION    NO.    1. 

Whereas,  the  settlement  of  our  vast  public  domain  under  the  direction 
of  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  has  of  itself  more  than  justified  the 
creation  of  this  department  of  our  government;  and, 

Whereas,  the  benefits  already  received  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  through  the  influence  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  demon- 
strate the  wisdom  of  establishing  this  "department  as  one  of  the  great 
executive  branches  of  our  government;  and, 

Whereas,  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  is  constantly  pre- 
senting conclusive  evidence  of  the  usefulness  of  such  a  department  in 
wisely  directing  the  great  interests  coming  within  its  jurisdiction;  and, 

Whereas,  the  successive  establishment  of  these  departments  of  our 
government  (at  the  different  stages  of  economic  development  of  the 
United  States)  has  fully  demonstrated  the  usefulness  of  this  manner  of 
co-operation  by  our  government  in  meeting  the  ever-expanding  industrial 
needs  of  the  people;  and, 

Whereas,  the  mining  development  of  this  country,  if  wisely  directed, 
will  add  a  much  needed  element  of  permanency  and  stability  to  present 
industrial  progress;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  The  American  Mining  Congress  in  annual  session  as- 
sembled, believing  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  a  Department  of 
Mines  and  Mining  would  be  the  means  of  placing  the  mining  industry  on 
a  plane  commensurate  with  its  importance  to  all  industrial  progress, 
urges  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  at  once  create  a  Department  of 
Mines  and  Mining  as  one  of  the  great  executive  branches  of  our  govern- 
ment. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing 
to  this  audience  the  Hon.  F.  H.  Newell,  of  the  United  States  Reclamation 
Service,  who  appears  here  at  the  request  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  will  now  address  you. 

Mr.  Newell's  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 


28  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  present  to 
you  Mr.  Gifford  Pinchot,  who  represents  the  United  States  Forest  Re- 
serve, who  will  now  address  you. 

Mr.  Pinchot's  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  resolution,  offered  by  Mr.  Frank 
V.  Drake,  of  Oregon: 

Whereas,  the  establishment  of  assay  offices,  located  with  great  care, 
so  as  to  best  accommodate  the  great  mining  districts  in  the  different  sec- 
tions of  the  United  States,  are  great  aids  in  the  development  of  the  min- 
ing industry  of  America;  therefore, 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  recommends  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  the  establishment  of  such  assay  offices  at  appropriate  loca- 
tions in  different  sections  of  the  United  States,  the  locations  of  which  to 
be  selected  with  great  care;  and, 

Whereas,  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  Senate  Bill  No.  280,  en- 
titled "A  bill  to  establish  an  assay  office  at  Portland,  Oregon,"  was  re- 
ported unanimously  from  the  Senate  Committee  on  Finance,  and  passed 
the  Senate  without  a  dissenting  vote,  which  bill  is  now  pending  before  the 
Committee  on  Coinage,  Weights  and  Measures  of  the  National  House 
of  Representatives;  and. 

Whereas,  the  State  of  Oregon  is  rapidly  developing  into  one  of  the 
richest  mineral  States  in  the  Union,  having,  according  to  the  report  of  the 
Geological  Survey,  produced  between  the  years  1862  and  1902,  gold  and 
silver  of  the  aggregate  value  of  $115,000,000;  and 

Whereas,  the  State  is  divided  into  three  great  mineral  districts, 
namely,  Eastern  Oregon,  Middle  or  Central  Oregon  and  Southern  Ore- 
gon; and, 

Whereas,  the  nearest  assay  office  to  any  portion  of  these  vast  min- 
eral districts  is  Boise,  Idaho,  on  the  east;  Seattle,  Washington,  on  the 
north,  and  San  Francisco,  California,  on  the  south;  and, 

Whereas,  it  is,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Congress,  important  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  general  development  of  the  mineral  industry  of  the  United 
States  that  an  assay  office  should  be  established  at  the  City  of  Portland, 
in  the  State  of  Oregon;  therefore,  be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  favors  the  passage  of  said  bill  through 
the  National  House  of  Representatives  at  the  next  session  of  Congress, 
and  earnestly  appeals  to  the  House  Committee  on  Coinage,  Weights  and 
Measures,  and  to  the  National  House  of  Representatives,  to  give  said 
bill  favorable  consideration  at  its  next  session. 

The  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  know  that  you  will  all  be  pleased  to 
know  that  your  Program  Committee  has  been  enabled  to  provide  you  with 
an  address  from  United  States  Senator  John  H.  Mitchell,  of  Oregon,  on 
the  subject  of  the  last  resolution. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  MITCHELL.  OF  OREGON:  Mr.  Mitchell  then  ad- 
dressed the  meeting  at  length  upon  the  establishment  of  an  assay  office  at 
Portland. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  You  will  now  have  the  pleasure  of  listen- 
ing to  an  address  on  Mining  Law  by  Mr.  Maurice  D.  Leehey,  of  Wash- 
ington. 

This  paper  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

MR.  STEELE  OF  ALASKA:  Mr.  President,  I  have  a  resolution 
which  I  would  like  to  read  to  the  Congress : 

Whereas,  the  District  of  Alaska  has  a  population  of  nearly  70,000 
American  citizens,  a  large  majority  of  whom  are  miners  and  prospectors; 
and, 

Whereas,  these  pioneers  have  no  way  of  obtaining  redress  for  their 
grievances,  except  by  a  personal  appeal  to  Congress;  and, 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  29 

Whereas,  these  appeals  must  be  made  to  Representatives  or  Sena- 
tors from  other  localities  who  have  the  welfare  of  their  own  districts 
and  constituents  to  care  for,  and  consequently  these  personal  appeals 
have  as  yet  been  of  no  avail  or  benefit;  and, 

Whereas,  it  is  the  wish  and  desire  of  all  Alaskans  that  they  be  repre- 
sented in  Congress  of  the  United  States  by  a  delegate  elected  by  the 
popular  vote  of  the  people,  to  the  end  that  such  laws  may  be  enacted  that 
will  be  to  the  benefit  of  mining  and  other  interests;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  The  American  Mining  Congress,  in  its  regular  con- 
vention assembled  in  Portland,  Oregon,  August,  1904,  does  heartily  in- 
dorse this  wish  of  Alaskans,  as  by  so  doing  the  great  mineral  storehouses 
of  the  North  Land  will  be  more  speedily  developed;  and,  be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  will  use  every  honorable  means  to  secure 
to  Alaska  that  representation  our  forefathers  fought  for  at  Bunker  Hill; 
and,  be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  appeal  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  for  their  consideration  at  the  next  session,  asking  for  immediate 
action,  to  the  end  that  these  hardy  Americans  may  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
representation  according  to  the  rights  guaranteed  in  our  Constitution 

The  resolution  will  be  referred. 

THE  PRESIDENT:  This  closes  the  program  arranged  by  your  Pro- 
gram Committee.  The  chairman  of  that  committee  desires  to  make  an 
announcement. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  Mr.  Patterson  then  made  a 
few  remarks  relative  to  the  program,  referring  especially  to  the  address 
to  be  given  by  Chancellor  E.  B.  Andrews. 

A  MEMBER:     I  move  you  that  we  adjourn  until  2  o'clock. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  There  are  some  resolutions  that  have 
been  presented  and  acted  upon  by  your  Committee  on  Resolutions  which 
we  might  act  upon  at  this  time  if  the  Congress  is  ready  to  take  them  up. 

MR.  THOMAS  EWING,  OF  CALIFORNIA:     I  move  that  the  resolu-. 
tion  on  the  establishment  of  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining,  which  is 
the  most  important  one,  be  taken  up. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  by  Col.  Thomas  Ewing 
that  the  resolution  in  relation  to  the  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining 
be  now  adopted.  Are  you  ready  for  the  question? 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:     Let  it  be  read. 
The  Secretary  read  the  resolution  and  the  report  of  the  committee 
thereon. 

MR.  E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  wish  to  say  with  reference 
to  this  resolution  that  I  hope  every  member  of  the  Congress  who  is 
present  this  morning  will  vote  "aye"  on  this  resolution.  Vote  "aye"  in  no 
uncertain  voice,  that  the  vote  on  this  resolution  may  be  heard  from  here 
to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH.  OF  UTAH:  I  move  as  an  amendment  to  the 
resolution  that  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  when  adopted  be  forwarded 
to  Hon.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United  States. 

MR.  J.  T.  CORNFORTH,  OF  ALASKA:  I  move  a  change  in  the 
name.  I  move  that  the  name  of  the  Department  shall  be,  instead  of 
"Mines  and  Mining,"  "Mines  and  Metallurgy."  I  believe  that  it  would 
better  convey  to  the  people  the  requirements  of  the  department,  in  estab- 
lishing a  system  of  analyses  and  analytic  work  in  chemistry,  a  subject 
that  is  most  essential  for  the  success  of  the  Department  of  Mines  and 


30  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Metallurgy.  Therefore,  I  make  the  motion  to  change  the  name,  and 
ask  to  refer  it  back  to  the  committee  on  the  wisdom  of  the  change  and 
to  present  it  here,  if  found  desirable,  with  that  name  attached  to  it.  I 
am  going  to  ask,  at  least,  if  my  motion  is  not  seconded,  that  it  be  referred 
back  to  the  committee  for  the  discussion  of  the  question  of  the  change 
of  the  name. 

The  motion  of  Mr.  Cornforth  was  seconded. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that  this 
resolution  be  amended  by  striking  out  the  word  "Mining,"  and  inserting 
the  word,  "Metallurgy,"  so  that  it  will  read,  "A  Department  of  Mines  and 
Metallurgy."  Are  you  ready  for  the  question  on  the  amendment? 

MR.  E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  might  say  for  the  informar 
tion  of  the  members  of  the  Congress,  that  that  matter  was  taken  up  in 
the  Committee  and  thoroughly  discussed.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this 
committee  to  dictate  what  that  department  shall  be  named.  Whether  it 
be  named  a  "Department  of  Mines  and  Mining,"  or  "Department  of  Mines 
and  Metallurgy,"  we  do  not  know.  Throughout  the  history  of  this  Congress, 
throughout  its  seven  years  of  existence,  we  have  been  asking  the  National 
Congress  to  establish  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining,  and  the  mining 
fraternity  throughout  the  country  have  known  that  we  have  been  asking 
for  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining.  Therefore,  it  wa.s  the  purpose 
of  the  committee  to  retain  this  name,  in  conformity  with  the  other  reso- 
lutions which  have  been  passed  by  this  Congress  at  previous  sessions. 
When  the  department  is  established  it  will  remain  with  the  committee, 
appointed  by  the  Congress,  to  determine  the  name  by  which  that  depart- 
ment shall  be  designated.  That  is  why  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
adopted  the  name  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining.  We  even  went  so  far 
as  to  consider  the  advisability  of  suggesting  that  the  name  be,  instead 
of  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining,  simply  a  Mining  Department,  leav- 
ing entirely  optional  with  the  Congressional  Committee  the  naming  of 
that  department.  We  eventually  decided  upon  the  name,  "Mines  and 
Mining,"  in  conformity  with  former  resolutions  adopted  by  this  Con- 
gress, and  in  conformity  with  the  impression  which  has  gone  abroad 
throughout  the  world  that  we  are  urging  a  Department  of  Mines  and 
Mining. 

MR.  JOHN  DERN,  OF  UTAH:  I  fully  agree  with  the  gentleman  from 
Missouri.  From  the  very  beginning,  all  of  our  resolutions  have  read,  that 
we  asked  for  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining.  It  is  not  necessary  in 
creating  a  department  of  that  kind  that  we  shall  designate  all  the  different 
parts  of  it.  Metallurgy  is  part  of  mining,  just  as  much  as  horticulture 
is  a  part  of  agriculture.  We  have  a  Department  of  Agriculture.  It  does 
not  specify  horticulture,  or  other  branches  of  agriculture,  but  it  is  all 
taken  in  the  same  field  and  for  the  same  purpose,  and  I  believe  it  is  well, 
inasmuch  as  we  have  asked  for  these  several  years  for  a  Department  of 
Mines  and  Mining,  under  that  title,  that  we  should  not  change  that  now, 
but  leave  it  as  it  now  appears  in  the  resolution. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  Gentlemen,  I  am  opposed  to 
the  change  of  the  name  from  Mines  and  Mining  to  that  of  Metallurgy,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  metallurgy  is  a  technical  name,  and  the  public 
at  large  do  not  understand  exactly  what  metallurgy  means.  Now,  we 
don't  mean  to  confuse  people  by  talking  to  them,  but  we  mean  to  talk  to 
them  in  a  manner  that  they  will  understand;  and  for  that  reason,  if  for 
no  other,  I  would  oppose  changing  the  name  from  Mines  and  Mining  to 
that  of  Mines  and  Metallurgy.  Metallurgy  applies  largely  to  chemistry, 
and  is  used  by  professors  in  that  line  of  work,  and  if  we  wanted  to  de- 
cide what  kind  of  a  mill  to  build  for  our  ores,  we  would,  as  a  rule,  send 
a  carload  of  our  ore  to  the  metallurgist.  Who  is  a  metallurgist?  many 
of  the  people  will  ask.  He  is  a  man  that  is  versed  in  that  particular 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  31 

speciality.  Now,  everybody  understands  the  term  Mines  and  Mining;  the 
boy  understands  it,  the  girl  understands  it,  the  father  and  the  mother 
understand  it,  and  why  should  we  change  it  to  a  technical  name  when 
we  are  striving,  as  the  gentleman  from  Utah  has  said,  to  get  that  which 
we  want  and  that  which  the  people  understand,  and  when  the  resolutions 
that  have  been  adopted  from  year  to  year  and  from  time  to  time  have 
been  under  the  head  of  Mines  and  Mining? 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  wish  to  make  a  motion,  and  move  as  an 
amendment  to  the  amendment  that  when  this  resolution  is  adopted  that 
a  copy  of  the  resolution,  certified  to  by  the  President  and  Secretary  of 
this  Congress,  shall  be  sent,  not  only  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
but  also  to  the  President  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  to  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  making  four  different  departments,  in  order  that  they  may 
know  what  we  have  done  and  why  we  have  done  it. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     Would  it  not  be  well  to  withdraw  that' 
last  amendment  and  let  the  question  stand  on  its  merits? 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:     All  right. 

MR.  J.  T.  CORNFORTH,  OF  ALASKA:  I  withdraw  the  motion.  I 
am  very  glad  to  hear  the  explanation  from  the  gentlemen  present.  I 
think  we  have  cleared  up  a  great  mystery  to  everybody,  what  Mines  and 
Mining  mean.  I  believe  it  embraces  all  of  the  departments  of  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  metals  in  general  and  I  am  only  too  glad  to  withdraw  the 
motion,  in  view  of  the  explanations  of  the  gentlemen  from  Utah  and 
Missouri. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  gentleman  from  Alaska  is  out  of 
order.  It  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Congress.  Are  you  ready  for  the  mo- 
tion, the  amendment  striking  out  the  word  "Mining"  and  inserting  the 
word  "Metallurgy"? 

A  MEMBER:     The  gentleman  withdrew  his  amendment. 
PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     He  has  no  right  to  withdraw  it. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:     Please  make  that  clear  again 

to  us.  4 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Mr.  J.  T.  Cornforth  of  Alaska  made  a 
motion  to  amend  the  resolution  by  striking  out  the  word  "Mining"  and 
inserting  in  lieu  thereof  the  word  "Metallurgy,"  so  that  it  will  read  as 
amended,  "A  Department  of  Mines  and  Metallurgy."  Then  the  gentle- 
man from  Alaska  offered  to  withdraw  his  motion,  but  it  having  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  Congress,  the  Chair  ruled  that  out  of  order.  The  question 
now  recurs  on  the  amendment,  striking  out  "Mining"  and  inserting  the 
word  "Metallurgy."  (Putting  the  question.)  It  is  lost.  Now,  the  ques- 
tion recurs  on  the  original  resolution.  (Putting  the  question.)  The 
"ayes"  have  it,  and  the  resolution  is  unanimously  adopted. 

The  President  recognized  Mr.  H.  S.  Joseph  of  Utah. 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:  I  will  give  the  floor  to  Mr.  Patter- 
son to  offer  a  motion  now  to  send  a  copy  to  the  different  offices  of  the 
United  States. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  I  was  going  to  offer  an  amend- 
ment to  the  amendment,  but  I  believe  that  is  not  necessary  now,  is  it? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  No,  the  resolution  has  been  carried  and 
your  motion  will  now  be  in  order,  an  original  motion. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  I  would  move  you,  sir,  that  a 
certified  copy  of  this  resolution  that  we  have  just  now  adopted  be  sent 


32  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, to  the  President  of  the  Senate,  and  to  each  Senator  of  the 
United  States  and  to  each  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:     I  second  the  motion. 
The  President  stated  the  motion,  and  upon  its  being  put  to  vote  de- 
clared it  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  There  are  some  further  resolutions  here, 
if  you  desire  to  act  upon  them. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  Mr.  President,  I  will  call  up 
Resolution  No.  2  and  ask  for  action  upon  it.  It  is  the  resolution  in  regard 
to  the  location  of  the  permanent  headquarters. 

The  Secretary  read  the  resolution  and  the  report  of  the  committee. 

MR.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:  I  move  that  said  resolution  be  adopted  in 
accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  committee. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  the  resolution  was  adopted.  (Said 
resolution  and  committee  report  are  set  out  in  the  proceedings  of  yester- 
day.) 

The  Secretary  read  a  resolution  offered  by  John  M.  Cleary  of  Clarke 
County,  Washington.  (Said  resolution  is  set  out  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  third  day,  with  the  report  of  the  committee  thereon.) 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  The  resolution  will  be  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions. 

MR.  JOHN  G.  GIBENS,  OF  WASHINGTON:  Mr.  President,  I  wish  to 
offer  the  following  resolution: 

Whereas,  in  view  of  the  abuse  in  Alaska  of  the  privilege  of  locating 
claims  by  power  of  attorney;  be  it 

Resolved,  by  the  American  Mining  Congress,  that  we  favor  and  rec- 
ommend appropriate  legislation  by  the  National  Congress  amending  the 
mining  laws  and  their  application  to  Alaska,  so  as  to  afford  relief  from  the 
present,  evils  by  location  under  the  power  of  attorney. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  will  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions.  Senator  Mitchell  desires  to  say  a  few  words. 

HON.  JOHN  H.  MITCHELL,  OF  OREGON:  Mr.  Mitchell  then  urged 
a  large  attendance  at  the  evening  meeting,  to  listen  to  Chancellor  An- 
drews' address. 

MR.  E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  wish  to  make  an  an- 
nouncement. The  Committee  on  Resolutions  meets  every  morning  at  8 
o'clock.  If  there  is  any  member  of  this  Congress  who  desires  to  intro- 
duce a  resolution,  that  resolution  should  be  in  the  hands  of  this  commit- 
tee by  to-night.  Please  do  not  delay  offering  your  resolutions.  If  they 
are  presented  later  than  to-day  they  may  not  be  acted  upon. 

Thereupon  the  Congress  adjourned  to  2  o'clock  P.  M.  August  23, 
1904. 


SECOND   DAY— AFTERNOON   SESSION. 

The  Congress  convened  August  23,  1904,  at  2  o'clock  P.  M. 

THE   PRESIDENT:      The  first  exercise  on   our   program   is   an   ad- 
dress by  Col.  F.  V.  Drake  on  "Minerals  and  Mining." 

Mr.  Drake's  paper  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     I  have  the  honor  to  introduce  to  you  Mr. 
T.  A.  Rickard  of  New  York,  the  editor  of  the  Engineering  and  Mining  Jour- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  33 

nal,  who  was  specially  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
as  a  delegate  to  this  Congress. 

Mr.  Rickard's  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  program  now  calls  for  an  address  by 
Colonel  Crawford,  who  is  not  present;  an  address  by  ex-Governor  Daggett 
of  California,  who  appears  not  to  be  present,  and  also  an  address  by  Mr. 
O.  P.  Brown  on  "Cyanide  Ores  of  the  Ragged  Top  District  of  the  Black 
Hills,"  who  also  is  not  present.  The  Secretary  has  an  announcement  to 
make. 

The  Secretary  read  a  communication  from  the  Oregon  delegation 
concerning  the  Eddy  Corporation  Tax  Law  of  Oregon,  which  was  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

The  following  papers  were  read  by  title: 

Concentration  of  Copper  Ores  in  the  Southwest,  by  Frank  H.  Probert. 

The  Geology  and  Mineral  Resources  of  Idaho,  by  Robert  N.  Bell. 

The  Mineral  Resources  of  Wyoming,  by  H.  C.  Beeler. 

The  Mineral  Resources  of  Vermont,  by  G.  H.  Perkins. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  said  papers  be  printed  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Congress.  Carried. 

These  papers  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Secretary -will  now  read  the  report  of 
the  committee  appointed  on  permanent  location  of  business  headquarters. 

The  Secretary  read,  as  follows: 
To  the  President,  Officers  and  Members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress: 

Your  Committee  on  Building  and  Location  of  Permanent  Headquar- 
ters for  the  Congress  beg  leave  to  report  as  follows: 

The  Secretary  of  the  Congress  has  given  notice  to  a  number  of  cities 
to  make  application  through  the  proper  channels  expressing  their  desire 
for  such  location  of  such  headquarters.  Of  these  only  two  cities  have  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  obtain  the  honor — Denver,  Colorado,  and  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah,  have  taken  up  the  matter  and  their  representatives  are  here 
to  press  their  claims. 

These  cities  are  both  favorably  located  in  the  central  part  of  the 
mining  country,  and  either  would  be  desirable.  Both  will  offer  desirable 
land  for  the  building  of  suitable  buildings,  as  well  as  financial  aid.  No 
doubt  the  Legislature  of  either  of  these  states  would  appropriate  money 
for  the  aid  of  the  Congress.  When  the  headquarters  is  permanently  lo- 
cated there  is  but  little  question  that  large  subscriptions  can  be  obtained 
from  successful  mining  men  and  others,  this  money  to  be  expended  in  the 
construction  of  suitable  buildings,  and  the  support  of  the  same,  where 
the  ores  of  the  country  can  be  placed  on  exhibition  to  remain  there  per- 
manently. This  cannot  be  done  .while  we  are  tramping  from  place  to 
place,  without  buildings  or  headquarters  of  any  kind. 

The  committee  would  strongly  recommend  that  one  of  these  two 
cities  be  selected,  and  desirable  terms  made  with  'them  for  the  building 
and  grounds  required  by  this  Congress. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

THOMAS  EWING,  Chairman. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  You  have  heard  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee appointed  on  Permanent  Headquarters  read.  What  is  your  pleas- 
ure with  this  report?  A  motion  to  adopt  it  will  be  in  order. 

MR.  H.  S.  CLARKE,  OF  BUTTE,  MONTANA:  I  move  that  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  be  adopted. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  and  upon  being  put  to  vote  by  the  Chair, 
was  declared  adopted. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  Has  the  Committee  on  Memo- 
rial Resolutions  reported? 


34  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Chairman  has  not  appointed  that 
committee,  but  I  will  attend  to  it  at  once. 

A  MEMBER:     Was  not  there  a  Committee  on  Credentials  appointed? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  That  committee  has  been  appointed,  but 
lias  not  yet  reported.  Mr.  Bates  of  Portland  is  chairman  of  that  commit- 
tee. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  That  committee  will  report  as 
soon  as  all  of  the  credentials  are  in.  There  are  more  expected  to  be 
here  to-night  and  to-morrow,  and  the  Committee  on  Credentials  will  prob- 
ably not  be  able  to  report  until  Friday  morning  at  10  o'clock. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  will  probably  be  necessary  to  have 
the  report  by  Thursday  noon. 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH.  OF  UTAH:  It  seems  to  me  the  Committee  on 
Credentials  have  had  ample  time  to  attend  to  their  duty.  Other  com- 
mittees, and  I  am  proud  to  say  among  them  the  Program  Committee,  have 
attended  to  their  duties  in  due  time.  It  seems  to  me  the  Credentials 
Committee  ought  to  come  in  with  their  report  not  later  than  Thursday 
morning. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  I  withdraw  what  I  said  about 
Friday  morning;  I  meant  Thursday  morning,  because  I  knew  there  was  a 
vote  to  be  taken  here  Thursday  afternoon  probably,  and  we  will  want  to 
know  who  are  entitled  to  vote,  and  the  committee  will  report  not  later 
than  Thursday  morning  at  the  opening  of  the  morning  session. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  might  suggest  that  it  is  going  to  be 
an  important  question,  as  I  understand,  for  you  to  consider  whether  you 
can  vote  by  proxy;  that  is  one  question  under  this  character  of  incorpora- 
tion; and  the  other  question  is  whether  or  not  a  delegate  who  is  not  a 
member  can  vote  on  a  business  matter  of  the  corporation.  Those  two 
questions,  if  possible,  ought  to  be  decided  at  this  session. 

MR.  R.  C.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  I  am  glad  you  have  made  the 
suggestion.  Inasmuch  as  we  seem  to  have  a  few  minutes  to  spare,  would 
It  not  be  wise  to  hear  from  those  who  hare  something  to  say  on  that 
point? 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:  In  order  to  bring  Mr.  Patterson's 
proposition  before  the  Congress,  I  now  move  you  that  the  report  of  the 
Credentials  Committee  be  made  a  special  order  for  10  o'clock  Thursday 
morning. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  and  upon  being  put  to  vote  by  the  Chair, 
was  declared  carried. 

Thereupon  the  Congress  adjourned  to  8  o'clock  P.  M.,  August  23, 
1904. 


SECOND  DAY—NIGHT  SESSION. 

The  Congress  convened  August  23,  1904,  at  8  o'clock  P.  M. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  is  one  of  the  pleasing  duties  of  my 
official  experience  to  introduce  the  gentleman  who  will  address  you  to- 
night. He  is  of  robust  manhood,  he  met  with  an  accident  to-day,  but  I 
am  informed  that  he  is  not  an  object  of  sympathy,  and  he  says  he  thinks 
the  audience  is  to  be  sympathized  with  to-night.  I  hare  the  pleasure  of 
introducing  to  you  Chancellor  E.  B.  Andrews  of  Nebraska,  who  will  now 
address  you. 

Chancellor  Andrews'  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  35 

A  MEMBER:  I  move  that  this  audience  extend  a  vote  of  thanks  to 
Chancellor  Andrews  for  his  masterly  address. 

The  question  was  called  for,  and,  upon  being  put  by  the  Chair,  was 
declared  unanimously  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Secretary  has  some  resolutions  he 
desires  to  read. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  resolution: 

Committee  Room,  August  23,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  4,  introduced  by  Dr.  E.  R. 
Buckley,  of  Missouri,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recommends  its  adoption  by 
the  Congress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 

J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

Received  August  23,  Afternoon  Session. 

RESOLUTION  NO.  4. 

By  E.  R.  Buckley:  Amend  Article  12  by  striking  out  the  word  "Con- 
gress" in  the  second  line  of  Section  1,  and  all  of  Section  2,  and  inserting 
in  line  one  (1)  of  Section  one  (1)  before  the  word  "place"4  the  words 
"time  and"  and  substituting  for  the  word  "Congress"  in  the  second  line 
the  words  "Board  of  Directors."  so  that  the  article  as  amended  shall 
read  as  follows : 

ARTICLE  XII. 

Section  1.  The  time  and  place  of  holding  the  annual  session  shall 
be  determined  by  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Also  amend  No.  13,  Section  3,  by  striking  out  all  of  the  first  sentence 
and  the  first  five  words  of  the  second  sentence,  including  "This  shall  be 
followed  by,"  and  adding  to  this  sentence  the  words  "shall  be  a  special 
order  for  two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  last  day,"  so  that  the  sec- 
tion, when  thus  amended,  shall  read  as  follows: 

Section  3.  The  election  of  the  Board  of  Directors  and  the  adoption 
of  a  resolution  addressed  to  the  Board  of  Directors  naming  those  to  be 
elected  by  the  Board  as  Officers  of  the  Congress  for  the  ensuing  year 
shall  be  a  special  order  for  two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  last  day. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  as  to  the  resolu- 
tion as  read? 

MR.  E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  will  move  you  that  the  re- 
port of  the  committee  be  adopted. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  and,  upon  being  put  by  the  Chair,  was 
declared  adopted. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  resolution  and  report: 

Committee  Room,  August  23,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  6,  introduced  by  Judge  Rich- 
ards of  Idaho,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recommends  its  adoption  by  the 
Congress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

RESOLUTION  NO.   6. 

By  Judge  J.  H.  Richards:  Whereas,  the  great  majority  of  mines  can 
not  be  operated  without  timber,  and  their  output  of  ore  is  limited  by  the 
available  timber  supply;  and, 

Whereas,  forest  reserves  are  by  law  open  to  prospecting,  locating  and 
development  of  mines,  as  other  public  lands,  with  the  single  exception 
that  large  users  of  timber  must  pay  a  reasonable  government  charge 
therefor;  and, 


36  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Whereas,  the  cutting  and  export  of  timber  from  mineral  regions  by 
large  corporations  constitutes  a  serious  menace  to  the  mining  industry; 
and, 

Whereas,  the  Department  of  Agriculture  has  given  special  attention 
to  the  question  of  timber  supply  for  mining  and  other  purposes,  and  is 
the  only  government  department  equipped  to  deal  with  all  the  varied, 
far-reaching  and  important  problems  involved  in  the  continuous  produc- 
tion of  timber  from  the  soil;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  The  American  Mining  Congress  heartily  favors  the 
conservative  use  of  forest  resources,  whether  in  public  or  private  hands, 
and  in  particular  the  creation  and  management  of  forest  reserves  under 
practical,  business-like  rules  and  regulations  to  the  end  that  local  timber 
supplies  may  be  maintained  for  mining  and  other  uses;  and, 

Resolved,  that  the  interest  of  the  mining  industry,  to  which  timber 
and  water  are  alike  essential,  the  care  and  management  of  all  govern- 
ment forest  reserves,  except  as  to  titles,  should  be  transferred  from  the 
•General  Land  Office  to  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  in 
accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  the  President,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  and  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office. 

A  MEMBER:     I  move  that  the  resolution  just  read  be  adopted. 
The  motion  was  seconded,  and,  upon  being  put  to  a  vote,  was  de- 
clared adopted. 


THIRD    DAY— MORNING    SESSION. 

!  Thursday,  August  24,  1904,  10  o'clock  A.  M. 

^RESIDENT  RICHARDS :  The  Congress  will  be  in  order.  We  have 
some  resolutions  to  announce  that  have  been  reported  by  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  resolutions,  together  with  the  re- 
ports of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  thereon,  to-wit: 

Committee  Room,  August  23,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  .follow- 
ing resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  7,  introduced  by  Mr.  T.  A. 
Rickard,  of  New  York,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recommends  its  adop- 
tion by  the  Congress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

By  T.  A.  Rickard,  New  York. 

Whereas,  this  Congress  earnestly  desires  to  see  the  business  of 
mining  placed  on  a  sound  basis;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  record  its  appreciation  of  the  success- 
ful efforts  of  the  Postoffice  Department  of  the  National  Government  in 
preventing  the  misuse  of  the  mails  for  fraudulent  mining  schemes. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolu- 
tion? 

MR.  DERN,  OF  UTAH:  I  move  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  as 
read. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

The  Secretary  then  read  the  report  of  the  committee  on  Resolution 
No.  10,  introduced  by  Mr.  Cleary  of  Washington,  and  also  the  resolution. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolu- 
tion and  the  recommendation  of  the  committee  that  it  be  not  adopted? 

MR.  CLEARY,  OF  WASHINGTON:  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen: 
This  resolution  is  offered  in  good  faith.  The  object  is  this:  You  all 
know  what  a  prospector's  trials  are.  He  is  a  child  of  Nature.  His  will 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  37 

and  his  energy,  naught  can  compare  with  them.  When  he  locates  a  min- 
ing deposit  in  the  wilds  of  Nature,  the  law  says  to  him,  "You  shall  be 
guided  in  unsurveyed  land  by  certain  objects  and  monuments."  He  acts 
according  to  that  law.  The  land  is  surveyed  in  time.  Perhaps  the  loca- 
tor is  at  another  place,  following  his  lot,  as  you  might  call  it.  Behind 
him  comes  the  parasite  which  ever  follows  every  ambitious  man;  he 
finds  a  loophole;  he  can  come  in  with  agricultural  scrip,  timber  or  stone 
scrip,  or  any  other  kind  of  scrip.  Inside  of  two  months  he  has  passed 
up  his  proof.  What  is  that  proof?  Two  men  to  declare  that  the  land  is 
non-mineral.  You  can  pick  that  kind  of  people  up  anywhere;  they  know 
no  more  about  mineralogy  or  geology  than  a  jackass  does  of  theology. 

Now,  where  does  the  prospector  come  in?  You  know  as  well  as  any- 
body that  he  is  a  poor  man;  he  carries  his  fortune  in  his  pocket  or  on  his 
back.  He  goes  to  the  land  office;  it  has  passed  up  the  patent.  Is  it  not 
fair  that  the  sense  of  that  resolution  should  prevail,  that  you  must  put 
up  your  notices  on  the  ground,  on  the  trail,  at  the  nearest  postoffice,  as 
well  as  at  the  land  office?  The  way  it  is  now  they  publish  a  notice  in  an 
obscure  paper  in  an  out-of-the-way  column,  three  insertions,  and  your 
prospector  is  nabbed.  There  are  800  claims  across  the  river  here,  and 
this  whole  country  is  wrangling  over  these  scrip  claims.  Do  you  mean  to 
encourage  this  kind  of  work,  comrades?  It  only  requires  an  amendment 
to  our  land  laws.  That  is  the  sense  of  that  resolution.  I  ask  you  to  refer 
it  back  to  the  committee.  It  was  my  misfortune  to  miss  being  here  or  I 
should  have  presented  the  case  before  the  committee.  I  ask  you  to  refer 
it  back  to  the  committee. 

COLONEL  CRAWFORD,  OF  OREGON:  Mr.  President,  the  matter 
that  my  friend,  Mr.  Cleary,  of  Washington,  spoke  about,  is  to-day  one  of 
the  most  important  matters  before  this  Congress.  There  is  too  much 
patchwork  all  through  this  country  of  ours,  and  we  miners  are  asserting 
our  rights  before  this  magnificent  body  of  men  to-day  in  order  that  we 
may  find  out  where  we  stand  and  how  we  stand  on  the  question  of  min- 
eral deposits  in  the  United  States,  that  belong  to  the  miner,  and  not  to  the 
adventurer,  not  to  the  schemer,  not  to  the  plasterer  of  a  location  notice, 
but  to  the  hardy  son  of  toil. 

The  motion  to  refer  the  resolution  back  to  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions was  seconded,  and,  upon  being  put  to  vote  by  the  Chair,  was  declared 
carried. 

THE  SECRETARY:  The  Committee  on  Resolutions  reports  back  the 
following  resolution: 

Committee  Room,  August  23,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  following 
resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  12,  introduced  by  Mr.  Steele,  of 
Alaska,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recommends  that  it  be  not  adopted  by 
the  Congress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

RESOLUTION  NO.  12. 

J.  L.  Steele,  Alaska. 

Whereas,  the  District  of  Alaska  has  a  population  of  nearly  70,000 
American  citizens,  a  large  majority  of  whom  are  miners  and  prospectors; 
and. 

Whereas,  these  pioneers  have  no  way  of  obtaining  redress  for  their 
grievances,  except  by  a  personal  appeal  to  Congress;  ana, 

Whereas,  these  appeals  must  be  made  to  Representatives  or  Senators 
from  other  localities  who  have  the  welfare  of  their  own  districts  and 
constituents  to  care  for,  and  consequently  these  personal  appeals  have 
as  yet  been  of  no  avail  or  benefit;  and. 

Whereas,  it  is  the  wish  and  desire  of  all  Alaskans  that  they  be  repre- 
sented in  Congress  of  the  United  States  by  a  delegate  elected  by  the 


38  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

popular  vote  of  the  people,  to  the  end  that  such  laws  may  be  enacted 
that  will  be  to  the  benefit  of  mining  and  other  interests;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  The  American  Mining  Congress,  in  their  regular  con- 
vention assembled  in  Portland,  Oregon,  August,  1904,  do  heartily  indorse 
this  wish  of  Alaskans,  as  by  so  doing  the  great  mineral  storehouses  of 
the  North  Land  will  be  more  speedily  developed;  and,  be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  will  use  every  honorable  means  to  se- 
cure to  Alaska  that  representation  our  forefathers  fought  for  at  Bunker 
Hill;  and,  be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  appeal  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  for  their  consideration  at  the  next  session,  asking  for  immediate 
action,  to  the  end  that  these  hardy  Americans  may  enjoy  the  privilege 
of  representation  according  to  the  rights  guaranteed  in  our  Constitution. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  report  of 
the  committee? 

MR.  E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  move  you  that  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  committee  be  adopted,  and  that  the  resolution  be  not  con- 
curred in  by  this  Congress. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that  the 
report  of  the  committee  be  adopted,  and  that  this  resolution  be  not  con- 
curred in  by  this  body.  Are  you  ready  for  this  question? 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the 
Congress:  I  think  as  a  body  representing  the  mining  industry  of  the 
world,  we  are  entitled  to  know  the  reason  why  the  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions is  turning  down  these  resolutions.  Let  them  give  an  explanation 
here  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Congress.  That  is  what  we  are  here  for. 
The  Committee  on  Resolutions  is  composed  of  representatives  from  the 
different  delegations.  At  the  time  these  resolutions  are  considered  by 
the  committee  those  interested,  or  those  who  introduced  these  resolutions, 
are  allowed  the  privilege  of  presenting  their  claim,  but  you  here  ought  to 
be  advised  of  the  reason  why  these  resolutions  are  turned  down.  We 
want  to  know  what  is  going  on  in  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  We 
don't  want  any  star  chamber  proceedings;  we  want  everything  open  and 
above  board  before  this  Congress. 

MR.  E.  R.  BUCKLEY:  The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions has  been  called  on  to  make  a  report.  I  think  the  gentlemen  of  this 
Congress  are  entitled  to  an  explanation  of  the  position  which  was  taken 
by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  with  reference  to  this  resolution.  I 
wish  to  say  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  do  not  care  to  place  them- 
selves on  record  as  opposed  to  Alaska  having  a  representation  in  the  Na- 
tional Congress,  and  it  would  have  been  better,  probably,  if  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions  had  recommended  that  the  resolution  be  laid  on 
the  table  instead  of  recommending  that  it  be  npt  concurred '  in.  How- 
ever, the  Committee  on  Resolutions  are  opposed  to  passing  any  resolu- 
tion in  which  matters  of  purely  a  local  nature,  and  not  of  national  inter- 
est, are  considered,  and  especially  any  resolution  which  affects  at  all  the 
political  interests  of  the  country.  This  Congress,  if  it  is  to  be  success- 
ful, must  be  removed  entirely  and  completely  from  politics;  politics  must 
not  enter  into  any  of  the  considerations  or  deliberations  of  this  Con- 
gress, and  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  will  take  this  position  with  re- 
spect to  all  resolutions  which  are  presented  to  them  for  consideration. 

MR.  JOSEPH  T.  CORNFORTH,  OF  ALASKA,  then  addressed  the 
Congress  at  length,  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  the  resolution. 

MR.  J.  L.  STEELE,  OF  ALASKA,  then  addressed  the  Congress  at 
length,  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  the  resolution. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  39 

MR.  J.  E.  TALMAGE,  OF  UTAH:  I  agree  perfectly  that  this  Con- 
gress is  entitled  to  know  any  reasons  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  may 
have  for  any  action  that  it  may  take;  as  has  been  so  strongly  demanded 
by  my  boisterous  colleague  from  Utah.  But  I  beg  to  add  that  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions,  like  your  other  committees,  has  been  created,  as 
I  understand  it,  for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  valuable  time  of  this  Con- 
gress in  open  session,  and  that  notices  have  been  posted  of  these  resolu- 
tions and  a  copy  of  each  resolution  announcing  the  time  at  which  the 
committee  would  consider  it,  and  inviting  all  who  were  interested  to  come 
there  and  present  their  reasons  in  its  favor.  The  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions have  reported  this  back  with  the  recommendation  that  it  be  not 
adopted,  not  because  they  are  not  in  sympathy  with  Alaska,  but  for  the 
simple  reason  that  it  is  their  conviction  that  they  have  no  jurisdiction 
of  the  matter. 

Mr.  Talmage  addressed  the  Congress  somewhat  at  length,  explaining 
that  it  was  not  the  province  of  the  Mining  Congress  to  pass  on  the  status 
of  States  and  Territories  and  districts  with  reference  to  representation  in 
Congress. 

MR.  IRWIN  MAHON,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,  then  addressed  the  Con- 
gress, in  favor  of  the  resolution. 

MR.  STEELE,  OF  ALASKA:  I  want  to  move  a  substitute.  ,  I  move 
you,  sir,  that  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  be  not  concurred 
in,  and  that  the  resolution  be  adopted  by  this  Congress. 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:     I  second  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  is  moved  and  seconded  that  a  substi- 
tute be  adopted,  that  the  report  of  the  committee  be  not  concurred  in,  and 
that  the  resolution  be  adopted  as  read.  Under  the  rules  of  this  body 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  has  the  right  to  close  the  debate. 

MR.  E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  Gentlemen  of  the  Congress: 
I  have  listened  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  to  the  remarks  of  the  gen- 
tleman from  Alaska,  and  from  our  Honorable  Secretary.  I  think  that 
each  member  of  this  committee  appreciates  the  position  which  is  main- 
tained by  the  gentlemen  from  Alaska.  We  understand  the  magnificent 
resources  of  Alaska,  and,  as  individuals,  we  would  do  anything  within 
our  power  to  further  the  interests  of  Alaska.  But  you  come  before  our 
committee  asking  us  to  pass  favorably  upon  resolutions  coming  to  us 
from  every  part  of  the  United  States,  which  are  local  in  their  nature, 
which  are  political  in  their  nature,  and  which  subordinate  the  one  great 
object  of  this  Mining  Congress — the  establishment  of  a  Department  of 
Mines  and  Mining.  You  ask  us,  gentlemen,  to  curtail  our  influence  with 
the  National  Government  for  the  establishment  of  that  department,  by 
passing  not  one,  but  fifteen  or  twenty  resolutions  directed  to  that  Na- 
tional Congress  pertaining  to  matters  which  are  of  local,  and  not  na- 
tional importance.  I  say  to  these  gentlemen  that  as  long  as  this  commit- 
tee, which  you  have  appointed  to  pass  upon  these  resolutions,  is  in  ses- 
sion, no  resolution  will  be  recommended  which  may  in  any  way  lessen 
our  influence  in  the  establishment  of  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining. 

Gentlemen,  I  wish  to  say  that  this  committee  is  in  session  every  morn- 
ing at  8  o'clock;  it  is  in  session  until  the  Congress  is  convened  in  the 
morning;  it  is  in  session  at  noon,  and  it  is  in  session  after  the  afternoon 
session  is  completed,  and  that  any  member  of  this  Congress  interested 
in  any  resolution  which  comes  before  that  committee,  may  have  a  hear- 
ing before  that  committee.  We  have  posted  the  resolution  on  the  bulletin 
board;  we  have  given  notice  when  those  resolutions  are  to  be  considered, 
and  that  is  the  place  and  the  time  for  the  members  who  are  interested  in 
those  resolutions  to  appear  and  present  their  arguments  in  favor  of  or 
against  such  resolutions.  Gentlemen,  I  claim  that  it  is  wrong  for  mem- 
bers to  ignore  the  opportunity  to  appear  before  that  committee  and 


40  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

speak  in  behalf  of  resolutions,  and  then  come  before  this  Congress  in 
session  and  take  its  time,  especially  in  matters  which  do  not  pertain  to 
or  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  this  body.  If  the  gentlemen  from 
Alaska  desire  a  hearing  upon  this  resolution,  we  would  be  glad  to  take 
that  resolution  back  and  give  them  another  opportunity  to  be  heard;  we 
would  be  glad  to  reconsider  that  resolution;  but  I  wish  to  give  the  mem- 
bers of  this  Congress  warning,  at  this  time,  that  other  resolutions  which 
are  presented  to  that  committee  and  returned  unfavorably  will  not  be 
taken  back,  if  you  neglect  the  opportunity  to  be  heard  before  that  com- 
mittee. 

Gentlemen,  this  committee  demands  the  respect  of  this  Congress. 
The  actions  of  this  committee  can  not  be  ignored  by  this  Congress.  You 
cannot  remain  at  your  hotels  in  the  morning  until  10  o'clock  while  that 
committee  is  in  session,  and,  when  a  resolution  is  adversely  reported, 
pass  these  resolutions  over  the  heads  of  that  committee.  If  you  want  a 
hearing  before  that  committee  you  have  the  privilege.  This  committee 
is  not  a  close  corporation;  it  is  a  committee  appointed  by  this  Congress, 
and  we  stand  ready  to  hear  every  argument  that  any  man  in  this  Con- 
gress desires  to  make  with  respect  to  any  resolution  which  comes  before  it. 

A  member  of  the  Congress  arose. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  debate  is  closed.  The  Chair  an- 
nounced that  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  had  a  right 
under  the  resolution  to  close  the  debate.  The  question  now  is  on  the  sub- 
stitute. 

MR.  DITTMAR,  OF  CALIFORNIA:  I  should  think,  under  the  circum- 
stances, other  remarks  are  in  order. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  That  is  all  right,  but  it  gives  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  the  right  to  close  again. 

SEVERAL  MEMBERS :     Let  him  close  again. 

MR.  DITTMAR:  Mr.  President  and  Fellow  Delegates:  I  have  lis- 
tened to  the  arguments  advanced  here  by  the  members  of  the  commit- 
tee, and  also  the  delegates  from  Alaska  and  their  friends,  and  it  seems  to 
me  that  this  is  not  a  question  merely  of  considering  the  wishes  of  a 
committee,  but  should  first,  last  and  always  be  a  question  of  considering 
the  necessities  of  a  great  and  important  section  of  the  mining  industry 
of  the  American  nation. 

While  I  agree  with  my  friends  of  the  committee  in  the  argument  that 
they  advance,  that  it  is  right  and  proper  for  any  one  who.  presents  a  reso- 
lution to  appear  before  that  committee  and  there  present  what  they  desire 
to  say,  yet  they  certainly  should  have  the  opportunity  thereafter,  if  that 
committee  should  report  adversely,  to  appear  upon  the  floor  of  this  Con- 
gress and  ask  the  delegates  to  pass  their  judgment  upon  it  in  a  session  at 
large.  That  is  a  right  and  a  rule  recognized  in  all  assemblages.  I  have 
never  seen  an  attempt  made  to  delegate  to  a  few  men  the  rights  of  an 
entire  body. 

My  friends,  so  far  as  Alaska  is  concerned,  in  asking  for  a  representa- 
tive in  the  National  Congress,  Alaska  is  not  going  outside  of  the  rights 
of  this  Congress  in  asking  for  its  endorsement.  If  this  Congress  has  the 
right  to  recommend  anything,  or  to  express  its  opinion  on  any  subject, 
it  has  a  right  to  express  its  opinion  on  the  subject  at  present  under  con- 
sideration, and  while  I  do  not  wish  to  suggest  that  this  body  act  over 
the  heads  of  the  committee,  as  it  has  been  expressed,  I  believe  that  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions,  when  it  gives  sober  reflection  to  the  question  at 
issue,  will  agree,  that  certainly  the  body  which  has  created  it  is  greater 
than  the  body  it  has  created.  I  wish,  my  friends,  in  closing  these  few 
remarks  on  this  line,  to  second  the  motion  which  was  made  by  the  gen- 
tleman from  Alaska — I  do  not  believe  that  motion  has  been  seconded — 
to  pass  the  resolution,  and  if  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  wishes  to 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  41 

reconsider  and  report  the  resolution  and  let  the  body  act  without  a  rec- 
ommendation, I  am  willing,  out  of  consideration  for  the  committee,  to 
make  that  as  an  amendment,  or  to  stand  for  an  amendment  of  that  charac- 
ter, and  I  believe  that  is  the  best  thing  for  the  committee  to  do,  because 
the  resolution  will  most  assuredly  pass. 

COLONEL  CRAWFORD,  OF  OREGON:  Taking  the  stand  of  a  com- 
mon miner,  Mr.  President,  I  do  not  know  much  about  parliamentary  rules, 
and  regulations.  But  our  boys  from  Alaska  wandered  up  there  when  Will- 
iam Henry  Seward  bought  Alaska,  and  when  men  in  Washington  said, 
"My  Lord!  what  are  they  buying  Alaska  for,  for  an  ice  house  for  the 
United  States?"  I  heard  that  when  I  was  a  young  man  on  the  streets 
of  Washington.  Yet  Alaska  has  paid  more  into  the  government  treasury 
than  any  other  State  we  have  purchased.  We  have  a  band  of  miners  up 
there  who  are  struggling  for  representation.  Without  haggling  about  this 
thing  or  that  thing,  let  us  as  miners  of  the  United  States  of  America 
endorse  the  request  of  our  boys  from  Alaska,  and  do  it  with  a  will.  That 
is  all  I've  got  to  say. 

MR.  JONES,  OF  ALASKA:  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  I  do  not 
believe  for  a  minute  that  there  is  any  delegate  here  that  wishes  to  treat 
the  Committee  on  Resolutions  with  discourtesy,  but  you  have  heard  their 
explanation,  that  there  has  been  little,  if  any,  appearance  on  the  part  of 
the  movers  of  resolutions  before  that  committee.  They  have  also  ex- 
pressed to  you  that  they  are  in  hearty  accord  with  the  principles  set 
forth  by  the  mover  of  the  resolution,  but  believing  that  it  was  not  ger- 
mane to  the  questions  for  which  this  Congress  has  convened,  they  have 
seen  fit  to  recommend  and,  perhaps  unfortunately,  in  the  language 
thereof,  that  it  be  not  granted.  Now,  as  a  matter  of  justice  and  in  the 
interest  of  harmony,  I  think  if  the  Chair  could  entertain  a  motion  to  re- 
commit at  this  time — I  don't  know  whether  it  would  be  in  order — that 
thereby  it  would  remove  what  now  appears  to  be  an  action  on  the  part 
of  this  Congress  which  is  very  discourteous  to  their  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions, who  have  been  doing  really  the  work  of  this  Congress. 

SEVERAL  MEMBERS:      No.  no. 

MR.  JONES  OF  ALASKA:  You  have  all  disapproved  of  one  of  the 
recommendations  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions;  this  is  the  second 
this  morning  for  your  consideration  and  there  may  be  a  great  many 
others.  Are  we  not  establishing  a  precedent  that  would  practically  mean 
that  you  do  not  care  for  the  further  services  of  your  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions? They  are  certainly  worthy  of  some  consideration  from  this 
Congress,  and  I  believe  that  the  committee  can  word  its  report  so  as  to 
remove  the  seeming  appearance  of  being  adverse  to  the  resolution,  and 
if  the  Chair  will  entertain  the  motion,  I  would  move  that  it  be  re-com- 
mitted to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  It  is  moved  and  seconded  that  this  report 
be  re-committed  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  for  further  consider- 
ation. 

MR.  M.  D.  LEEHEY  OF  WASHINGTON:  Mr.  President,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  and  as  an  ardent  advocate  of  the 
proposition  of  a  delegate  from  Alaska,  I  am  opposed  to  the  motion  made 
by  my  colleague,  Mr.  Jones. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  have  been  compelled  to  take  this 
stand  that  the  purpose  of  this  resolution  was  foreign  to  the  Congress. 
They  have  taken  that  stand.  Now,  it  will  do  no  good  to  refer  that  to 
the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  because  I  am  satisfied  that  every  mem- 
ber of  that  committee  is  in  favor  of  this  motion,  if  it  were  within  the 
purview  of  this  Congress.  If  this  Congress  sees  fit  to  pass  this  motion  of 


42  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Mr.  Steele  of  Alaska,  and  not  concur  in  the  report  of  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions,  you  will  thereby  say  as  a  Congress  that  it  is  within  the 
purview  of  its  work,  and  you  will  relieve  the  committee  from  further  re- 
sponsibility. (A  Voice:  Yes,  that  is  right.)  Mr.  President,  I  am  opposed 
to  the  motion  of  Mr.  Jones  and  prefer  to  have  the  vote  taken  on  the 
motion  of  Mr.  Steele. 

THE  PRESIDENT:  The  question  is  on  the  motion  to  re-commit 
this  resolution  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  Are  you  ready  for  the 
question?  (Putting  the  question.)  The  "noes"  have  it.  It  is  lost.  The 
question  now  recurs  on  the  substitute,  that  is,  that  the  report  of  the 
committee  be  not  concurred  in  and  that  the  resolution  be  adopted  as  read. 
(Putting  the  question.)  The  "ayes"  have  it  and  the  resolution  is 
adopted. 

The  Secretary  read  a  resolution  offered  by  Mr.  T.  A.  Rickard  of  New 
York  that  El  Paso  be  selected  as  the  place  for  holding  the  annual  session 
of  1905,  and  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  Said  res- 
olution is  set  out  in  full  in  a  subsequent  session,  with  the  report  of  the 
committee. 

The  Secretary  also  read  the  following  resolution  by  A.  L.  Mjorris: 

Whereas,  Much  of  the  money  lost  in  mining  stocks  and  investments 
by  those  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  workings  of  the  mines  is  due 
to  the  fictitious  reports  made  by  many  who  are  not  qualified  to  make  such 
reports;  and, 

Whereas,  There  are  no  laws  governing  the  qualification  of  the  mining 
engineers  of  the  country;  now,  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  legislatures  of  the  mining  states  be  urged  to 
enact  such  laws  governing  the  licensing  and  qualifications  of  such  as  are 
deemed  best  in  their  own  judgment,  making  the  basis  the  same  as  on 
examinations  for  lawyers,  doctors  or  other  professional  occupations. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  resolution  will  be  referred  to  the 
committee. 

MR.  JOSEPH  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President,  having  presented  a  reso- 
lution, I  have  been  the  recipient  of  many  courtesies  from  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions.  I  have  been  before  them  and  they  have  given  me  a  re- 
spectful hearing;  but  I  do  take  umbrage  at  the  remarks  of  the  honorable 
secretary  of  that  committee  in  referring  to  the  "very  boisterous  member 
from  Utah."  I  only  wish  other  members  in  this  Congress  were  as  bois- 
terous. 

I  have  a  resolution  here  that  should  go  with  Resolution  No.  5,  and  I 
ask  a  hearing  at  the  same  time. 

(Mr.  Joseph  then  read  his  resolution,  which  in  a  somewhat  modified 
form,  appears  on  page  49  of  these  proceedings,  with  the  committee's  report. 
Continuing  his  remarks,  he  said) : 

In  order  that  the  Congress  may  be  enlightened  upon  this  subject 
(as  there  are  few  of  us  who  know  that  such  a  law  has  been  passed),  I 
will  read  the  law;  the  bill  passed  by  Congress  at  its  last  session  and 
signed  by  the  President  February  28,  1904,  reads  as  follows: 

"Section  2327.  The  description  of  vein  or  ledge  claims  upon  sur- 
veyed lands  shall  designate  the  location  of  the  claims  with  reference  to 
the  lines  of  the  public  survey,  but  need  not  conform  therewith;  but  where 
patents  have  been  issued  for  claims  upon  unsurveyed  lands,  the  surveyor- 
general,  in  extending  the  public  survey,  shall  adjust  tne  same  to  the 
boundaries  of  patented  claims  so  as  in  no  case  to  interfere  with  or  change 
the  true  location  of  such  claims  as  they  are  officially  established  upon  the 
ground.  Where  patents  have  issued  for  mineral  lands,  those  lands  only 
shall  be  segregated  and  shall  be  deemed  to  be  patented  which  are  bounded 
by  the  lines  actually  marked,  defined  and  established  upon  the  ground  by 
the  monuments  of  the  official  survey  upon  which  the  patent  grant  is 
based,  and  the  surveyor-general  in  executing  subsequent  patents  surveys, 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  43 

whether  upon  surveyed  or  unsurveyed  lands,  shall  be  governed  accord- 
ingly. The  said  monuments  shall  at  all  times  constitute  the  highest  au- 
thority as  to  what  is  patented,  and  in  case  of  any  conflict  between  the 
said  monuments  of  such  patented  claims  and  the  description  of  said 
claims  in  the  patents  issued  therefor,  the  monuments  on  the  ground 
shall  govern,  and  erroneous  or  inconsistent  descriptions  or  calls  in  the 
patent  description  shall  give  way  thereto." 

In  conjunction  with  this,  the  Department  of  the  Interior  has  sent  out 
the  following  letter  to  surveyor-generals,  who  in  turn  have  sent  them  to 
deputy  United  States  mineral  surveyors,  and  I  believe  that  all  mineral 
claimants  are  so  much  interested  in  this  question  as  to  justify  me  in 
reading  it: 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR,  WASHINGTON, 

August  8,  1904. 
The  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office: 

Sir — The  Department  is  in  receipt  of  a  communication  from  your 
office,  dated  July  19,  1904,  submitting  for  consideration  here  draft  of  pro- 
posed amendment  of  paragraph  147  of  the  official  mining  regulations.  The 
Department  has  deemed  it  necessary  to  make  certain  changes  in  the  draft 
submitted;  and  the  paragraph  in  question,  amended  to  read  as  follows, 
is  hereby  approved: 

"147.  If  an  official  mineral  survey  has  been  made  in  the  vicinity, 
within  a  reasonable  distance,  a  further  connecting  line  should  be  run  to 
some  corner  thereof;  and  in  like  manner  all  conflicting  surveys  and  loca- 
tions should  be  so  connected,  and  the  corner  with  which  connection  is 
made  in  each  case  described.  Such  connections  will  be  made  and  con- 
flicts shown  according  to  the  boundaries  of  the  neighboring  or  conflict- 
ing claims  as  each  is  marked,  defined,  and  actually  established  upon  the 
ground.  The  mineral  surveyor  will  fully  and  specifically  state  in  his  re- 
turn how  and  by  what  visible  evidences  he  was  able  to  identify  on  the 
ground  the  several  conflicting  surveys  and  those  which  appear  according 
to  their  returned  tie  or  boundary  lines  to  conflict,  if  they  were  so  iden- 
tified, and  report  errors  or  discrepancies  found  by  him  in  any  such  sur- 
veys. In  the  survey  of  contiguous  claims  which  constitute  a  consolidated 
group,  where  corners  are  common,  bearings  should  be  mentioned  but 
once." 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  remarked  that  a  mineral  patent  is 
with  the  record  in  a  mining  case  on  appeal  here,  in  which  but  one  mon- 
ument, stated  therein  to  be  situated  at  corner  No.  1  of  the  claim  there 
in  question,  is  found  to  be  mentioned,  notwithstanding  four  monuments 
are  referred  to  and  described  in  the  report  of  the  deputy  mineral  sur- 
veyor accompanying  the  approved  survey  of  the  claim,  as  marking  the 
four  corners  of  the  claim  upon  the  ground.  It  has  also  been  informally 
reported  to  the  department  that  the  practice  has  prevailed  in  your  office, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  of  issuing  mineral  patents  in  which  no  men- 
tion whatever  is  made  of  any  of  the  monuments  reported  and  described  by 
the  deputy  mineral  surveyors. 

Your  attention  is  directed  to  the  requirements  under  section  2325, 
Revised  Statutes,  that  an  applicant  for  mineral  patent  shall  file  with  his 
application  a  plat  and  field  notes  of  the  claim  or  claims  in  common,  made 
by  or  under  the  direction  of  the  United  States  Surveyor  General,  showing 
accurately  the  boundaries  of  the  claim  or  claims,  which  shall  be  distinctly 
marked  by  monuments  on  the  ground,  and  that  within  sixty  days'  period 
of  publication  he  shall  file  a  certificate  of  the  surveyor  general  that  the 
plat  is  correct,  with  such  further  description  by  such  reference  to  natural 
objects  or  permanent  monuments  as  shall  identify  the  claim,  and  fur- 
nish an  accurate  description,  to  be  incorporated  in  the  patent. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  and  of  the  provisions  of  the  mining  regula- 
tion pursuant  thereto,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  practice  referred  to 
is  unauthorized  and  unwarranted.  Hereafter,  your  office  will  be  careful 
to  include  in  every  mineral  patent  an  adequate  and  accurate  description 


44  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

of  each  of  the  monuments  reported  in  connection  with  the  survey  of  the 
claim  for  which  the  patent  is  to  issue,  and  to  state  at  the  appropriate 
point  in  the  instrument  the  particular  corner  reported  to  be  marked  o-r 
witnessed  on  the  ground  by  each  monument,  and  will  also  include  therein 
such  additional  bearings  as  may  be  reported  in  connection  with  any  such 
monuments,  description  of  reported  points  of  intersection  with  other  ap- 
proved surveys,  and,  generally,  all  data  with  respect  to  the  designation 
of  the  actual  locus  of  the  claim  prescribed  under  or  in  connection  with 
paragraphs  34,  36,  38,  48,  143,  144,  145,  146  and  154  of  the  mining  regula- 
tions, as  far  as  set  forth  in  the  report  of  the  mineral  surveyor.  This  re- 
quirement will  apply  to  all  mineral  patents  not  yet  issued  from  your  office. 
In  any  case  in  which  the  report  of  a  deputy  mineral  surveyor  should  con- 
tain no  mention  and  description  of  monuments  as  defining  the  boundaries 
of  a  claim  upon  the  ground,  patent  will  be  withheld  until  the  claim  shall 
be  shown  to  have  been  so  denned,  as  required  by  the  law  and  official  regu- 
lations, and  the  monuments  are  particularly  described  in  a  supplemental 
report,  duly  approved  by  the  surveyor  general. 

Very  respectfully, 
(Signed)  THOS.  RYAN,  Acting  Secretary. 

A  MEMBER:     What  is  that  resolution  aimed  at? 

MR.  H.  S.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:  The  resolution  is  aimed  at  an  amend- 
ment to  this  law,  so  that  in  case  the  monuments  are  not  found  upon  the 
ground  or  cannot  be  identified,  the  records  will  then  hold.  That  is  the 
object  of  the  resolution. 

The  resolution  was  referred  to  the  committee. 

Mr.  R.  C.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  offered  a  resolution  of  thanks  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States  for  his  interest  in  mining  and  allied 
industries,  which  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  and  sub- 
stitute favorably  reported,  which  is  set  out  in  the  proceedings  of  the  after- 
noon session  of  the  24th. 

MR.  E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  Let  me  take  just  a  moment 
of  your  time  and  offer  one  suggestion  to  the  members  of  this  Congress, 
and  that  is  that  they  devote  just  a  little  more  time  to  the  wording  of 
the  resolutions  as  presented  to  this  Congress,  and  that  they  make  them 
perfectly  clear.  I  know  from  personal  knowledge  that  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  resolutions  presented  to  this  committee  were  thought  of,  say  in  the 
morning,  written  within  a  half  hour  of  the  time  the  idea  occurred  to  the 
individual,  and  then  presented  to  this  Congress.  I  think  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Joseph  has  modified  his  first  resolution  by  reporting  another  is  evidence 
of  the  fact  that  resolutions  should  be  given  more  careful  consideration 
by  the  members  before  being  presented. 

MR.  J.  A.  ABBOTT,  OF  COLORADO:  Mr.  President:  After  consulta- 
tion with  a  number  of  the  representative  members  of  this  Mining  Congress 
and  delegates  here  present,  I  have  been  requested  to  make,  and  do  now 
make,  a  motion  that  you  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  make  a  list  for 
submission  to  this  Congress  of  nine  members,  who  shall  serve  on  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  this  Congress  for  the  ensuing  year;  that  you  appoint 
a  committee  of  three  to  carefully  prepare  a  list  of  nominations  of  nine 
executive  officers  to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     You  make  that  as  a  motion? 

MR.  ABBOTT:     I  make  it  as  a  motion. 
The  motion  was  seconded. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  is  moved  and  seconded  that  the  Chair 
appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  present  to  this  Congress  nine  names  for 
nomination  as  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  for  the  coming  year. 
(Putting  the  question.)  Carried. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  45> 

I  am  requested  to  announce  that  by  the  official  call  of  the  fifteenth 
annual  session  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress,  it  will  be 
convened  in  St.  Louis  on  October  25th,  and  the  notice  thereof  will  be 
posted  on  the  bulletin  board  here. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  chairman  of  the  Credentials  Commit- 
tee desires  that  all  delegates  and  members  file  their  credentials  with  the 
Secretary  so  that  the  Chairman  may  report  on  those  entitled  to  vote  at 
this  Congress  at  the  incoming  of  the  afternoon  session. 

What  is  your  further  pleasure?  We  will  take  up  the  program.  Dr. 
Buckley  was  first  on  the  program,  but,  as  Colonel  Crawford  of  Oregon  will 
be  compelled  to  leave  to-day,  Dr.  Buckley  has  kindly  consented  that 
Colonel  Crawford  occupy  his  time. 

COL.  J.  S.  CRAWFORD,  OF  OREGON,  then  read  a  paper  on  "Elec- 
tricity, Its  Forces  and  Conditions,  as  Found  in  Geology." 


THIRD   DAY— AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

August  24,  1904,  3  P.  M. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Secretary  has  some  announcements 
to  make. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:     I  wish  to  inform  the  Congress  that  our  Pres- 
ident, in  the  name  of  the  Congress,  sent  forward  yesterday  evening  the 
following  dispatch: 
Mr.  M.  H.  Lattimer,  Seattle: 

The  seventh  annual  assembly  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  now 
in  session  in  Portland,  learns  with  much  satisfaction  that  the  cable  con- 
necting Portland,  Seattle,  and  Alaska  has  just  been  completed,  and  desires 
to  extend  through  you  their  congratulations  to  the  proper  authorities  on 
the  success  of  so  great  and  wise  an  enterprise. 

J.  H.  RICHARDS.  President. 

To  this  message  the  following  answer  has  just  been  received: 
J.  H.  Richards,  President  of  the  Mining  Congress,  Portland,  Oregon. 

People  of  Seattle  thank  you  and  the  American  Mining  Congress  for 
kind  message  on  connecting  Alaska  cable. 

SEATTLE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE, 

JOHN  SCHRAM,  President. 

I  have  the  following  resolution  to  report: 

Committee  Room,  August  24,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  following 
resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  14,  introduced  by  Mr.  Rickard,  of 
New  York,  and  without  recommendation. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

RESOLUTION   NO.    14. 

T.  A.  Rickard,  of  New  York. 

Whereas,  it  is  believed  that  much  good  must  accrue  to  the  Congress 
by  holding  a  session  on  the  Mexican  border;  and, 

Whereas,  the  Texas  delegation  has  guaranteed  an  enthusiastic  recep- 
tion on  the  part  of  their  people;  and, 

Whereas,  El  Paso  has  offered  this  body  liberal  support;  therefore, 
be  it 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  recommends  to  the  Board  of  Directors 
the  selection  of  El  Paso  as  the  city  in  which  to  hold  the  annual  session  for 
1905. 


46  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolution 
which  is  reported  back  without  recommendation? 

MR.  COBB,  OF  TEXAS,  then  addressed  the  Congress  in  favor  of  the 
adoption  of  the  resolution. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolu- 
tion? 

MR.  GARRIGUS,  OF  OREGON::  I  move  the  adoption  of  the  resolu- 
tion as  read. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded,  and  upon  being  put  to  a  vote,  was 
unanimously  carried,  and  the  resolution  adopted. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  At  this  morning  session  Mr.  Abbott  made 
a  motion  that  the  Chair  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  nominate  candi- 
dates for  directors  of  this  Congress  during  the  ensuing  year.  In  order  to 
make  that  committee  harmonious  and  fitting,  it  seems  to  me  that  it 
should  consist  of  five.  If  there  is  no  objection  to  making  it  five  instead 
of  three,  I  am  ready  to  announce  that  committee. 

MR.  ABBOTT,  OF  COLORADO:  I  accept  that  suggestion,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  have  appointed  the  following  as  that 
committee : 

Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  of  California;  Geo.  W.  E.  Dorsey,  of  Nebraska; 
J.  F.  Callbreath,  of  Colorado;  M.  P.  Gilbert,  of  Utah;  Zach  Lamar  Cobb, 
of  Texas. 

MR.  DERN,  OF  UTAH:  I  think  you  credited  to  Utah  one  who  is  not 
a  delegate  from  Utah.  Mr.  Gilbert  is  a  delegate  from  Los  Angeles. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  That  was  an  oversight.  I  will  appoint 
John  Dern,  of  Utah. 

We  have  on  our  program  this  afternoon,  first,  an  address  by  Dr.  E. 
R.  Buckley,  of  Missouri,  on  "Functions  of  the  State  Geological  Survey  and 
Bureau  of  Geology  and  Mines." 

Mr.  Buckley  then  gave  a  short  address  on  the  subject  announced. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  be  favored  with  an  address 
by  Col.  John  Daggett,  of  California,  on  the  "Mineral  Resources  of  Califor- 
nia." 

Address  will  be  found  in  Part  II. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  The  Secretary  will  make  an  announcement. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:  If  all  delegates  who  desire  to  attend  the 
theater  this  evening,  with  their  friends,  will  come  to  the  stage,  we  will 
supply  them  with  tickets. 

MR.  DITTMAR,  OF  CALIFORNIA:  I  wish  to  inquire  if  there  is  a 
program  for  this  evening? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  A  reception  at  the  Commercial  Club  this 
evening. 

MR.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  You  will  recollect  the 
special  order  at  10  o'clock  to-morrow  morning  is  the  taking  up  of  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  on  Credentials. 

Upon  motion,  duly  seconded,  the  Congress  adjourned  until  10  o'clock 
A.  M.,  August  25,  1904. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  4T 

FOURTH    DAY— MORNING    SESSION. 

August  25,  10  A.  M. 
The  Congress  was  called  to  order  by  the  President. 

Read  by  title:  "The  Mining  Resources  of  South  Carolina,"  by  E.  J. 
Watson. 

This  address  is  included  in  Part  II.  of  this  report: 
Secretary  Mahon  read  the  following  report  of  the  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions : 

Committee  Room,  August  24,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  15,  substitute  introduced  by 
Mr.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recommends  its 
adoption  by  the  Congress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

RESOLUTION   NO.    15. 

By  Mr.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska. 

Be  it  resolved,  that  the  thanks  of  this  Congress  be  and  are  hereby 
tendered  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  for  the  interest  he  has 
taken  in  the  works  of  the  Congress  as  evidenced  by  the  appointment  of 
delegates  to  represent  the  government  in  our  deliberation  and  for  assign- 
ing Professor  Newell  of  the  Reclamation  Service  and  Professor  Pinchot  of 
the  Bureau  of  Forest  Reserve  to  address  this  Congress. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:    What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolution? 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  resolution  as  read  be  adopted. 
Carried. 

The  Secretary  announced  Resolution  No.  9,  substitute,  introduced  by 
James  G.  Giben,  of  "Washington,  returned  by  committee  with  recommenda- 
tion that  it  "be  forwarded  to  Mr.  Newell,  of  the  Land  Commission,  cre- 
ated by  the  President  of  the  United  States." 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolu- 
tion? 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:     I  move  the  adoption  of  the  sub- 
stitute resolution  as  recommended  by  the  committee. 
The  motion  was  seconded.  • 

MR.  STEELE,  OF  ALASKA:  Mr.  President:  Would  it  be  in  order 
to  ask  the  Secretary  to  read  the  last  clause  of  that  resolution  again?  (It 
was  read  as  requested.)  Mr.  President:  I  can  not  understand  what  that 
means  when  it  says,  "Not  more  than  two  claims  in  each  district."  If  that 
applies  to  Alaska,  we  would  have  to  apply  it  to  the  judicial  districts  or  to 
the  commissioner's  districts;  and  some  of  our  districts  are  larger  than 
States;  and  if  it  means  that  not  more  than  two  claims  can  be  located  in 
each  of  those  districts,  it  seems  to  me  it  would  work  a  hardship.  If  I 
am  not  right  in  its  interpretation,  I  want  to  be  put  right. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     That  is  the  way  it  reads. 

MR.  STEELE:  Then  I  would  move  to  amend  that  resolution  by  mak- 
ing it  "not  more  than  two  placer  claims  on  any  one  creek." 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     Would  it  not  be  better  to  have  it  referred 
back  to  the  committee  and  have  the  pr/oper  amendment  made  there? 
The  motion  was  seconded. 

MR.  BUCKLEY:  I  wish  to  explain  that  this  resolution  was  referred 
to  two  gentlemen  on  the  committee  who  were  specially  familiar  with  that 
•ubject.  Personally  I  have  no  familiarity  with  placer  mining,  and  I  would 
be  very  glad  to  have  that  resolution  come  back  to  the  committee. 


48  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection,  then,  the  Chair 
will  refer  it  back  to  the  committee. 

The  Secretary  announced  the  following  resolution  as  having  been  re- 
turned by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  with  recommendation,  to-wit: 

Committee  Room,  August  24,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  accom- 
panying resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  10,  introduced  by  Mr. 
Cleary,  of  Washington,  and  recommends  that  said  resolution  be  forwarded 
to  Mr.  Newell,  of  the  Land  Commission,  created  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  said  commission  having  as  its  specific  duty  the  recom- 
mendation of  modifications  of  the  present  laws  governing  the  public  do- 
main. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 

J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

RESOLUTION  NO.  10. 

John  M.  Cleary,  Washington. 

Be  it  resolved,  that  in  any  mineral  zone  where  a  mining  right  exists, 
all  conflicting  right  to  patent,  agricultural  or  scrip,  shall  go  through  same 
procedure  as  application  for  final  mineral  proof  and  patent,  full  compli- 
ance as  to  notices,  press  and  postoffices  and  highways  and  grounds. 

The  prospector  is  handicapped  and  his  rights  are  defeated  by  the 
present  methods  of  final  proof. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolu- 
tion? 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  report  of  the  committee  be 
adopted.  Carried. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  the  following  resolution,  with  the  report  of  the 
committee  thereon: 

Committee  Room,  August  24,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  accom- 
panying resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  16B,  said  No.  16B  being 
a  substitute  for  No.  16,  and  this  in  turn  a  substitute  for  No.  5,  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Joseph,  of  Utah,  and  recommends  that  said  resolution  be 
forwarded  to  Mr.  Newell,  of  the  Land  Commission,  created  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  said  Commission  having  as  its  specific  duty  the 
recommendation  of  modifications  of  the  present  laws  governing  the  pub- 
lic domain. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

Papers  accompanying  the  resolutions  and  substitutes  are  returned 
herewith. 

RESOLUTION  NO.  16  "B." 

By  H.  S.  Josephs,  of  Utah. 

Whereas,  according  to  Section  2327,  of  Revised  Statutes  of  the 
United  States,  passed  by  Congress  at  its  last  session  and  signed  by  the 
President  February  8,  1904,  no  provision  is  made  whereby  a  claim  can  go 
to  patent  in  the  absence  of  monument  after  the  survey  thereof  is  ap- 
proved; and, 

Whereas,  by  reason  of  such  omission  in  the  law,  the  mineral  claim- 
ants throughout  the  United  States  will  be  put  to  a  needless  and  vast  ex- 
pense; therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  by  the  American  Mining  Congress  in  convention  assem- 
bled August,  1904,  that  a  recommendation  be  made  to  the  Land  Commis- 
sion appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  that  it  may  rec- 
ommend in  turn  an  amendment  to  said  Section  2327,  providing  that  in  the 
loss  or  absence  of  monuments  from  mining  claims,  the  Surveyor  General's 
record  of  such  survey  shall  govern  and  constitute  the  highest  authority. 

(The  "papers  accompanying  the  resolutions"  are  set  out  in  Mr.  Jos- 
ephs' original  discussion  when  offering  the  resolution,  on  page  42. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  49 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  report 
and  resolution? 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  report  of  the  committee  be 
adopted.  Carried. 

Secretary  Mahon  read  Resolution  No.  8,  with  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions  thereon. 

Committee  Room,  August  24,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  following 
resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  8,  introduced  by  Mr.  Drake,  of 
Oregon,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recommends  its  adoption  by  the  Con- 
gress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.  E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

RESOLUTION  NO.   8. 

Whereas,  the  establishment  of  assay  offices,  selected  with  great  care, 
so  as  to  best  accommodate  the  great  mining  districts  in  the  different  sec- 
tions of  the  United  States,  are  great  aids  in  the  development  of  the  min- 
ing industry  of  America;  therefore, 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  recommends  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  the  establishment  of  such  assay  offices  at  appropriate  loca- 
tions in  different  sections  of  the  United  States,  the  locations  of  which  to 
be  selected  with  great  care;  and, 

Whereas,  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  Senate  Bill  No.  280,  entitled 
"A  bill  to  establish  an  Assay  Office  at  Portland,  Oregon,"  was  reported 
unanimously  from  the  Senate  Committee  on  Finance,  and  passed  the  Sen- 
ate without  a  dissenting  vote,  and  which  bill  is  now  pending  before  the 
Committee  on  Coinage,  Weights  and  Measures  of  the  National  House  of 
Representatives;  and, 

Whereas,  the  State  of  Oregon  is  rapidly  developing  into  one  of  the 
richest  mineral  States  in  the  Union,  having,  according  to  the  report  of 
the  Geological  Survey,  produced  between  the  years  1862  and  1902,  gold  and 
silver  of  the  aggregate  value  of  $115,000,000;  and, 

Whereas,  the  State  is  divided  into  three  great  mineral  districts, 
namely,  Eastern  Oregon,  Middle  or  Central  Oregon,  and  Southern  Ore- 
gon; and. 

Whereas,  the  nearest  assay  office  to  any  portion  of  these  vast  mineral 
districts  is  Boise,  Idaho,  on  the  east,  Seattle,  Washington,  on  the  north, 
and  Sari  Francisco,  California,  on  the  south;  and, 

Whereas,  it  is,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Congress,  important  in  the 
interest  of  the  general  development  of  the  mineral  industry  of  the  United 
States  that  an  assay  office  should  be  established  at  the  City  of  Portland, 
in  the  State  of  Oregon;  therefore,  be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  favors  the  passage  of  said  bill  through 
the  National  House  of  Representatives  at  the  next  session  of  Congress, 
and  earnestly  appeals  to  the  House  Committee  on  Coinage,  Weights  and 
Measures,  and  to  the  National  House  of  Representatives,  to  give  said 
bill  favorable  consideration  at  its  next  session. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolu- 
tion? 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  it  be  adopted.     Carried. 

The  Secretary  then  read  letters  from  Dr.  J.  A.  Holmes,  of  St.  Louis, 
Missouri,  and  J.  J.  Guentherodt,  of  Nevada  City,  California. 

MR.  DODGE,  OF  OREGON:  Mr.  President,  before  the  Congress  takes 
up  the  regular  order  of  business  I  wish,  in  behalf  of  the  members  and 
delegates  who  attended  the  pleasant  reception  at  the  Commercial  Club 
last  evening,  to  offer  a  resolution  and  move  its  adoption.  I  will  ask  the 
secretary  to  read  it. 

The  Secretary  read  the  resolution. 


50  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

MR.  JOSEPHS,  OF  UTAH:     Mr.  President:     I  also  have  a  resolution, 
which  I  wish  to  read,  and  move  its  adoption. 
The  resolution  was  read. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  I  move  that  the  rules  be  suspended, 
and  the  resolution  as  read  be  adopted  by  a  rising  vote. 

MR.  JOSEPHS:     I  second  the  motion. 

MR.  BUCKLEY  (the  motion  having  been  put  by  the  Chair) :  I  sim- 
ply wish  you  to  say  that  the  Resolutions  Committee  this  morning  ap- 
pointed a  sub-committee  to  draft  resolutions  of  thanks  covering  the  en- 
tire convention,  and  it  has  started  to  prepare  such  a  resolution.  If  these 
were  referred  to  that  committee  they  would  be  embodied  in  that  general 
resolution.  I  am  not  opposed  to  these  resolutions,  but  would  be  glad  to 
have  them  referred  to  this  sub-committee. 

MR.  DODGE :     I  move  that  they  be  referred  to  that  committee. 
PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     They  will  be  so  referred. 

MR.  DERN,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  I  wish  to  offer  the  following 
resolution: 

RESOLUTION.  * 

Portland,  Oregon,  August  25,  1904. 

By  John  Dern,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

Whereas,  the  Hon.  Geo.  H.  Williams,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Portland, 
extended  to  the  American  Mining  Congress  the  use  of  two  handsome 
rooms  in  the  City  Hall,  as  headquarters  for  this  organization  from  March, 
1904,  to  August  31,  1904,  free  of  all  cost,  and  was  in  every  other  way  most 
courteous  in  his  treatment  of  our  Secretary;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  The  American  Mining  Congress,  appreciating  this  most 
courteous  treatment,  do  now  extend  to  His  Honor,  Mayor  Williams,  a  most 
hearty  and  sincere  vote  of  thanks. 

MR.  JOSEPHS:  I  move  that  the  resolution  be  referred  to  the  proper 
committee. 

MR.  DRAKE,  OF  OREGON:  Mr.  President:  The  Mayor  of  Portland 
has  been  very  considerate  and  very  helpful;  he"  is  a  distinguished  man, 
and  much  admired  and  loved  by  all  who  know  him,  by  all  the  citizens  of 
Portland.  We  are  under  special  obligations  to  him,  and  I  would  like  to 
honor  him  by  having  this  resolution  not  embodied  in  any  other;  and  I 
would  ask  that  the  rules  be  suspended,  and  this  resolution  adopted  by 
a  rising  vote. 

The  resolution  was  adopted  unanimously  by  a  rising  vote. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  first  thing  on  our  program  this  morn- 
ing is  in  relation  to  the  Thunder  Mountain  district,  of  Idaho.  Many  in- 
quiries have  been  made  in  regard  to  it,  and  Mr.  Borthwick  has  kindly  con- 
sented to  give  you  a  short  address  upon  that  unknown  region. 

Mr.  A.  E,  Borthwick  then  addressed  the  Congress  upon  "Idaho  and 
Thunder  Mountain." 

This  paper  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 
To  the  President  and  Members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

Gentlemen:  Your  Committee  duly  appointed  on  the  Credentials  of 
Members  to  this  Congress,  beg  to  report  that  they  have  found  six  hundred 
and  ninety-six  accredited  and  appointed  delegates  to  this  Congress,  and 
three  hundred  and  seven  permanent  members,  making  a  grand  total  of 
one  thousand  and  three  (1,003)  who  are  legally  entitled  to  be  present  and 
participate  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Seventh  Annual  Session  of  the  Con- 
gress. 

PHILIP    S.    BATES,   Chairman. 
R.  C.  PATTERSON. 
M.  P.  GILBERT. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  61 

The  following  is  the  complete  list  of  delegates  present  at  this  time 
of  which  we  have  any  knowledge:  — 

AT  LARGE. 

Gayley,  James . New  York 

Hammond,  John  Ha>s New  York 

Rickard,  T.  A New  York 

Mudd,  S.  W Los  Angeles 

Emmons,  S.  F (United  States  Geological  Survey) 

Hayes,  C.  W (United  States  Geological  Survey) 

Ransome,  P.  L (United  States  Geological  Survey) 

Diller,  J.  S (United  States  Geological  Survey) 

ARIZONA. 
Ewing,  Col.  Thpmas Vivian 

ALASKA. 

Leehey,  Maurice  D Ketchikan 

Lovell,  Sam.  L Catalla 

BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 
Sutton,  W.  J Victoria 

CALIFORNIA. 

Halloran,  Arthur  H San  Francisco 

Dittmar,  M.  E Redding 

Brokaw,  A.  C Redding 

Scott,  J.  B Redding 

Merton,  T.  D San  Francisco 

Gunn,  Charles  M h San  Francisco 

Daggett,  John Redding 

COLORADO. 

Wilson,  William  L Denver 

Abbott,  James  W Denver 

Hamlin,  Clarence  C Colorado  Springs 

Bridgeman,  W.  E Denver 

Crane,  Dr.  F.  J Denver 

Callbreath,  James  F.,  Jr Denver 

IDAHO. 

Miller,  W.  C Wallace 

Hutton,  L.  W Wallace 

Greenough,  Thomas  L Mullen 

Cowen,  E.  P Mountain  Home 

Dewey,  E.  H Nampa 

Seigwin,  John Mineral 

IOWA. 
Berry,  J.  W 

MAINE. 
Small,  Col.  J.  T Lewiston 

MISSOURI. 
Cook,  J.  H Joplin 

MONTANA. 

Stannard,   Geo.   F Kalispel 

Clark,  H.  S ^ Butte 

Wood,  David Great  Falls 

NEBRASKA. 
Nicholson,  H.  H . .  Lincoln 


52  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

NEVADA. 
Pearson,  S.  T 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 
Gallusha,  Robert Marble 

,:   OREGON. 

Voorheis,  A.  E Grant's   Pass 

Coe,  R.  L Grant's  Pass 

Gilkey,  H.  L Grant's  Pass 

Johnson,  C.  L Salem 

Roat,  W.  B Cottage  Grove 

Higgins,  C.  C .'..' Grant's  Pass 

Kimbrae,  G.  W Roseburg 

Metzker,  C.  O . . Lakeview 

Olston,   Otto Eugene 

Fisher,  Geo % , Eugene 

Armitage,  B.  M Myrtle  Creek 

Ingham,  E.  H . . Eugene 

Phillips,  F.  B Cottage  Grove 

Fisk,  J.  H ... Portland 

Jones,  J.  J Cottage  Grove 

Wheeler,  F.  B - Cottage  Grove 

Campbell,  P.  L Eugene 

Pointlexter,  C.  W Grant's  Pass 

Warner,  G.  G Cottage  Grove 

Hyde,  J.  M Eugene 

Smith,   T.   C Salem 

Lundberg,  Alex Bohemia 

Zimmerman,  L Portland 

Merrill,  E.  S Blue  River 

Shane,  W.  H Bohemia 

Nutzker,  C.  O Lakeview 

LeRoy,  A.  D Bohemia 

Fletcher,  J.  D Medford 

Hansen,    Otto Salem 

Wickersham,  L.  G Grant's  Pass 

Campbell,  Thomas  K Cottage  Grove 

Waggoner,  George  E Blue  River 

Wood,  A.  B Cottage  Grove 

Whitman,  J.  A Medford 

Conklin,  Arthur Grant's  Pass 

Blockberger,  F.  R. , McMinnniville 

Kemp,  L.  A Roseburg 

Walker,  A.  W Eugene 

Cannon,  E Portland 

Start,  S.  S Sumpter 

Brady,  P.  A Sumpter 

Eselstyn,  J.  N. . . .Sumpter 

Nicholson,  H.  H Sumptetf 

Mohr,   Anthony Sumpter. 

Bellman,  L.  R Sumpter 

Hammond,  L  B Portland 

Houstan,  W.  A Baker  City 

Hand,  Frank  J Portland 

Oglesby,  W.  W Cottage  Grove 

Garrigus,  L.  C Portland 

Selig,  N , . .. Myrtle  Creek 

Pape,  J.  B Cottage  Grove 

Kaufman,  I.  S Marshfield 

Hennsey,  P Marshfield 

Chandler,  W.  S Marshfield 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  53 

Jordan,  F Cottage  Grove 

Mitchell,  McKinley Gervais 

Kramer,  Willis Myrtle  Creek 

Dennis,  W.  B Black  Butte 

ONTARIO    (Canada). 

Macquene,  Lieut.  Col.  Frederick  N Woodstock 

Haance,  Eugene Ottawa 

Barlow,  Alfred  E Ottawa 

SOUTH    DAKOTA. 
O'Hara,  C.  C Rapid  City 

TEXAS. 

Winn,  W.  H El  Paso 

Waldo,  Gentry El  Paso 

Norman,  Harry     El  Paso 

Malcomson,  James  W El  Paso 

Morris,  M.  E. El  Paso 

Kirk,  M.  P El  Paso 

Land,  Otto El  Paso 

Gifford,  A.  W El  Paso 

Krakauer,  A El  Paso 

Fisher,  J.  W El  Paso 

Campbell,  J.  H El  Paso 

Pitman,  Park  W. El  Paso 

Kelly,  C.  E El  Paso 

Cobb,  Zach  Lamar .El  Paso 

UTAH. 

Kirby,  John  A Park  City 

Tibbals,  William  H Salt  Lake 

Powers,  Oreando  W Salt  Lake 

Dern,  John Salt  Lake 

Talmage,  James  E Salt  Lake 

McKay,  A.  N '. Salt  Lake 

Byrne,  C.  T Salt  Lake 

Jennings,  James  E Salt  Lake 

Child,  William  H Salt  Lake 

Lawrence,  H.  C Salt  Lake 

Morrison,  S.  W Salt  Lake 

Tulloch,  S.  W Salt  Lake 

Chipman,  James Salt  Lake 

Joseph,  H.  S Salt  Lake 

Davis,  A.  J Salt  Lake 

Martin,  L.  D Salt  Lake 

King,  J.  C.  E Salt  Lake 

Jacobs,  Tony Salt  Lake 

Whitney,  Race Salt  Lake 

White,  Geo Salt  Lake 

Haleman,  G.  P Salt  Lake 

Houston,  J.  W Salt  Lake 

Peterson,  O.  T Salt  Lake 

Halloran,  W.  J Salt  Lake 

Cannon,  R.  D Salt  Lake 

Egan,  T Salt  Lake 

Hudson,  C.  E Salt  Lake 

Eccles,    David Ogden 

Rolopp,  H.  H Ogden 

Dee,  Thomas  D Ogden 


54  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

WASHINGTON. 

Girens,  James  G Seattle 

McManns,  James  E Seattle 

Earnest,  A.  B Seattle 

Jones,   J.    D Seattle 

Cornforth,  J.   T Seattle 

Harper,  F.  C Seattle 

Rodda,   R.   W Seattle 

Daniels,   Thurston Vancouver 

Merchant,  William  F Walla  Walla 

Barron,  L.  G Walla  Walla 

Steel,  William  A Seattle 

McClaine,  A.  F Tacoma 

Mather,    John Seattle 

Mclntyre,  A.  W Everett 

Knox,  Frank Little  Rock 

Lange,  R.  C Chehalis 

Kotick,  Frank Olympia 

Adams,  W.  H Olympia 

Braden,    Eugene . .  Everett 

Loring,  Frank  C Spokane 

Gray,   W.   A Winlock 

Rand,  V.  V Vancouver 

Ely,  W.  P '. . . Kelso 

Cagwin,   A.   E Kelso 

Shetton,  E.  N , Seattle 

Rutter,  W.  C Seattle 

Lee,  C.  T Seattle 

Cleary,   John Vancouver 

Rust,  William   R Tacoma 

Rynerson,  H.  M Summit  District 

Walters,  William  J Seattle 

Rynerson,  F.  M Summit  District 

Subsequently  the  Credentials  Committee  submitted  an  additional  re- 
port, which  for  convenience  and  clearness  follows  herewith: 

Mr.  President:  Your  Committee  on  Credentials  beg  leave  to  report  a 
further  addition  of  fourteen  new  paid  members  and  fourteen  duly  accred- 
ited delegates,  making  a  total  of  one  thousand  and  thirty-one  (1,031)  who 
are  legally  entitled  to  be  present  and  participate  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  Seventh  Annual  Session  of  the  Congress. 

PHILIP  S.  BATES,  Chairman. 

ACCREDITED    DELEGATES. 

COLORADO. 

Schneider,  George  A Denver 

White,  E.  L Denver 

MINNESOTA. 

Hutchins,  Dr.  E.  A Minneapolis 

Boutele,  P.  D Minneapolis 

Deringer,  O.  S St.  Paul 

NEBRASKA. 
Schoeuleber,  L.  K Ceresco 

OREGON. 

Abraham,  Alfred Roseburg 

Fenn,  R.  W Roseburg 

Thomas,   R Grant's  Pass 

Stovall,  Dennis  H Grant's  Pass 

Conklin,    Arthur Grant's  Pass 

Cowgill,  W.  C Baker  City 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS!  55 

SOUTH   DAKOTA. 
Peterson,  John Deadwood 

WASHINGTON. 

Beaver,   George Spokane 

Allen,  Mrs.  John  B Seattle 

Allen,  John  B.,  Jr ; Seattle 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  have  an  address  by  Mr.  M. 
E.  Dittmar  of  California. 

Mr.  Dittmar's  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  letter:: 

Seattle,  Wash.,  Aug.  24,  1904. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Richards,  President  American  Mining  Congress,  Portland,  Ore- 
gon. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  kind  telegram  last  night  was  received  and  passed 
to  the  proper  authorities.  The  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
has  made  reply  by  wire  to  you  to-day,  thanking  you  on  behalf  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  good  citizens  of  Seattle  for  the  congratu- 
lations and  expression  of  good  wishes  from  you.  I  take  this  means  of 
again  thanking  you,  and  through  you  all  the  members  of  the  Mining  Con- 
gress. Yours  truly, 

W.  H.  LATTIMER,  Secretary. 

COLONEL  CRAWFORD,  OF  OREGON:  I  move  that  this  convention 
adjourn  until  half-past  2  this  afternoon. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Let  me  suggest  that  a  special  order  was 
provided  for  this  afternoon  at  2  o'clock. 

COLONEL  CRAWFORD:     I  withdraw  my  motion  upon  that  sugges- 
tion, Mr.  President,  and  move  that  we  adjourn  until  2  o'clock. 
Ttfe  motion  was  seconded. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Before  we  adjourn  the  Secretary  has  a 
resolution  to  read. 

The  Secretary  read  Mr.  Thurston  Daniels'  resolution,  No.  19,  and  the 
same  was  ordered  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  and  the 
same  will  be  found  printed  in  the  proceedings  of  the  last  day. 

Whereupon  the  Congress  adjourned  until  2  o'clock  P.  M.,  August  25th. 


FOURTH    DAY— AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

The  Congress  was  called  to  order  by  the  President. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Members  and  Delegates:  The  hour  has 
arrived  when  we  are  to  take  up  the  matter  of  special  order  for  this  after- 
noon as  fixed  by  this  Congress.  I  ask  the  indulgence  of  this  body  for  a 
few  moments,  that  I  may  make  a  general  statement  as  to  the  purposes  of 
the  committee  in  presenting  this  question  to  this  session. 

When  I  see  the  great  influence  that  the  coal  fields  of  the  East  have 
had  on  the  industrial  development  of  that  rich  section  of  our  country; 
when  I  see  the  mighty  influence  that  the  iron  fields  of  Alabama  have  had 
in  wiping  out  the  sectional  differences  that  have  so  long  beset  our  land; 
when  I  see  the  influence  that  the  silver  mines  of  Nevada  have  had  upon 
the  finances  of  this  nation  in  its  hours  of  trial;  when  I  see  the  streams 
of  gold  that  have  flown  from  the  State  of  California  to  sustain  this  nation's 
credit  throughout  the  world,  and  when  I  see  the  riches  that  have  come 
from  the  Central  Western  States  to  enrich  their  citizens  within  their  bor- 
ders, and  last,  but  not  least,  when  I  see  the  streams  of  gold  and  other 
metals  that  are  coming  from  the  great  empire  of  Alaska  to  enrich  the 
entire  nation,  I  conclude  that  Alaska  is  not  a  sectional  part  of  this  coun- 


56  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

try.  When  these  things  appear  to  a  man  who  takes  them  in  their  com- 
prehensive sense,  and  when  he  sees  the  American  Mining  Congress  come 
before  the  mining  sections  of  this  country  to  act  as  a  means  by  which  ,the 
mining  industry  can  speak  to  this  nation,  you  can  readily  understand  that 
we  are  anxious  that  this  Mining  Congress  may  take  the  highest  stand  that 
an  organization  has  ever  taken  in  this  country  which  is  interested  in  the 
industrial  development  of  our  nation.  Now,  you  have  reached  a  period  in 
your  deliberations  when  you  touch  a  point  near  to  my  heart,  and  I  want 
to  make  these  statements,  that  you  may  make  no  mistake  when  you  locate 
the  permanent  business  headquarters  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 
I  am  proud  to  see  the  State  of  Utah  come  here  and  ask  that  the  head- 
quarters of  this  organization  be  placed  in  their  beautiful  city. 

I  am  aware  that  the  American  Mining  Congress,  under  its  former  name 
of  the  International  Mining  Congress,  has  been  to  some  extent  dishonored 
in  the  home  of  its  birth,  the  State  of  Colorado,  and  I  am  fully  conscious 
that  there  are  many  men  in  that  State  who  do  not  now  understand  the 
aims  and  purposes  of  this  Congress,  for  if  they  did  they  would  be  willing 
to  come  here  and  ask  the  child  to  which  they  gave  birth  ifl  that  State,  to 
come  home  and  help  redeem  them  from  their  mistaken  ideas  of  mining 
in  this  country. 

The  East  as  well  as  the  West  is  interested  in  this  great  question  that 
you  are  now  about  to  determine;  not  only  the  East,  but  we  also  extend 
the  hand  of  good  fellowship  to  the  nation  on  our  North.  I  love  that  coun- 
try, because  I  believe  that  there  is  going  to  be  one  of  the  great  fields  that 
will  help  to  establish  another  free  country  for  a  free  people.  Delegates 
from  Canada  have  come  here  and  asked  me  time  and  again,  "We  want  to 
know  what  are  the  aims  and  purposes  of  this  body,  as  we  want  to  follow 
in  the  wake  of  your  leadership."  We  want  to  speak  through  the  gates  of 
El  Paso  next  year  to  the  people  on  our  Southern  border.  We  want  to  have 
the  people  of  Mexico  understand  what  mining  means  to  the  industrial  de- 
velopment of  a  great  people,  and  we  expect  to  speak  to  them  at  El  Paso 
in  terms  that  they  can  not  misunderstand;  and  back  of  it  all,  tmt  not 
least,  we  want  to  have  an  organization  here  that  will  command  the  re- 
spect of  the  best  business  thought  of  this  entire  nation. 

I  have  talked  with  many  of  your  wealthy  men  in  this  country,  and 
they  say,  "when  you  show  us  that  your  Congress  is  worthy  of  our  confi- 
dence, and  has  some  permanency  and  stability  to  its  purposes,  you  can 
count  on  us  for  our  support  to  the  extent  of  millions,  if  you  desire  it." 

We  want  to  take  such  action  in  this  matter  as  will  command  the  re- 
spect of  the  entire  industry  of  mining  from  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  to 
the  waters  of  the  Atlantic,  and  from  the  southern  borders  of  Mexico  to 
the  northern  borders  of  Canada,  and  from  there  on  to  the  North  Pole, 
embracing  the  entire  district  of  Alaska.  I  think  it  is  one  of  the  most  seri- 
ous things  that  has  ever  been  brought  before  the  American  Mining  Con- 
gress, and  rather  than  make  any  mistake  and  do  an  injustice  to  the  indus- 
try of  mining,  I  would  ask  you  to  postpone  it  for  another  year,  or  longer, 
if  necessary.  The  aim  and  purpose  that  your  Board  of  Directors  had  in 
bringing  this  to  your  attention  was  not  so  much  to  locate  it  now  as  to 
allow  the  mining  industry  of  this  entire  nation  to  know  what  this  Min- 
ing Congress  means,  and  what  its  ultimate  purposes  are  going  to  be. 
When  you  see  the  magnificent  wealth  that  the  mining  industry  has  given 
to  this  country,  the  great  smelters  and  marvelous  industrial  development 
of  the  East,  the  great  cities  it  has  brought  forth  like  Pittsburg;  when  you 
see  that  the  entire  transportation  of  this  country  is  supported  by  a  ton- 
nage from  mining  amounting  to  fifty-two  per  cent,  of  the  entire  freight 
traffic,  then  you  can  understand  what  this  means,  not  only  to  the  rail- 
roads and  smelters,  but  what  it  means  to  every  city  in  this  land.  It  is 
a  great  question,  and  I  want  you  to  enter  upon  it,  as  the  gentleman  .said 
from  this  platform  the  other  night,  we  want  it  opened  up  on  the  theory  of 
prayer  and  fasting.  It  is  a  serious  question.  We  are  aiming  to  com- 
mand the  respect  of  the  greatest  intellects  of  this  country,  as  well  as  to 
command  the  respect  of  the  prospector  and  the  miner.  That  attained,  you 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  57 

will  have  force  and  power.  It  is  not  so  much  what  Utah  or  Colorado  may 
offer  to  this  Congress  as  a  donation  for  locating  this  home  there,  that  im- 
presses me,  generous  as  it  may  seem,  but  I  know  that  irrespective  of 
what  those  States  may  offer,  if  you  call  upon  the  miner  and  the  business 
man  with  understanding  and  intelligence,  every  miner  will  contribute  his' 
mite,  every  mine  owner  his  dollar,  and  every  millionaire  of  his  surplus, 
to  help  you  to  establish  a  home  that  will  appeal  to  the  mining  industry 
of  the  world. 

We  expect  that  wherever  you  locate  this  home  we  shall  build  there 
a  temple  dedicated  to  the  mining  industry  which  will  appeal  to  the  busi- 
ness sentiment  of  the  best  nation  on  earth,  the  American  nation.  Ami  it 
is  out  of  that. kind  of  sentiment  that  you  will  bring  forth  the  best  minds, 
the  best  men,  the  best  character  that  will  come  into  this  Congress,  and 
their  appeals  will  be  heard  from  Alaska  to  Washington,  and  the  nation's 
representatives  will  pay  attention  to  what  this  Congress  may  say. 

We  will  have  in  that  temple,  dedicated  to  the  mining  industry,  an 
assembly  room  adorned  with  art,  through  which  this  Congress  can  speak 
with  force  and  power,  and  around  it  there  will  be  galleries  where  the 
commercial  ores  of  every  State  in  this  Union,  as  well  as  Canada,  Mexico 
and  any  other  nation  that  is  interested  in  this  industry,  can  be  correctly 
classified  and  exhibited,  so  that  a  man  in  London  or  in  Egypt  can  send 
word  to  that  headquarters  and  find  every  mineral,  and  learn  how  to  handle 
it,  which  is  produced  in  any  State  in  this  Union.  Therefore,  I  ask  you 
when  you  enter  upon  a  deliberation  of  this  character  that  you  do  it  with 
the  most  sober  thought.  I  told  the  miners  at  Deadwood  when  this  Mining 
Congress  wa,s  resuscitated,  that  in  its  infancy  if  must  be  cradled  in  the 
arms  of  the  miner;  and  it  was  the  mining  men  and  prospectors  of  Dead- 
wood  that  helped  to  give  this  Congress  the  vitality  that  you  see  at  this 
session.  Now,  while  in  its  infancy  it  has  to  be  cradled  in  the  arms  of  the 
miner,  in  its  youth  it  must  be  moulded  in  the  best  business  thought  of  this 
nation,  and  finally  it  must  be  guided  by  the  highest  intelligence  of  all; 
so  when  you  enter  upon  these  deliberations,  recognize  that  we  are  striv- 
ing to  bring  out  of  this  session  the  best  thought,  the  best  heart,  and  the 
best  manhood  of  the  greatest  industry  in  our  country. 

If  out  of  this  Congress,  with  all  the  eloquence  that  we  have  had  dis- 
played relative  to  the  wealth  of  gold,  iron,  coal  and  silver,  we  do  not 
produce  greater  men  than  this  nation  has  ever  seen,  then  your  whole 
labor  ha.s  been  in  vain.  That  is  the  crowning  triumph  of  our  great  nation; 
it  is  the  crowning  triumph  of  civilization;  and  it  is  out  of  this  Mining  Con- 
gress that  we  expect  to  present  to  this  nation  a  greater  manhood. 

Now,  when  you  locate  this  business  headquarters,  remember  that 
there  will  be  built  a  temple  which  shall  be  dedicated  to  the  industry  of 
mining;  and  I  ask  you  to  enter  upon  your  discussion  of  this  subject  with 
that  sober  and  candid  deliberation  that  will  bring  out  the  best  thought 
of  this  Congress,  and  if  then  you  are  not  satisfied  that  in  the  interests 
of  mining  the  place  has  been  properly  selected,  I  ask  you  to  postpone  it 
until  another  session  of  this  Congress. 

JOHN  BERN,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  As  you  have  already 
stated,  the  selection  of  a  permanent  home  for  the  Mining  Congress  hav- 
ing been  made  a  special  order  for  this  afternoon,  in  order  to  bring  it 
properly  before  this  Congress,  I  move  that  Salt  Lake  City  be  designated 
as  the  permanent  home  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

COLONEL  CRAWFORD,  OF  OREGON:  Mr.  President;  I  have  heard 
with  feelings  of  the  deepest  and  profoundest  respect  what  you  have  so 
ably  stated  as  a  preamble  before  we  proceed  with  the  deliberations  of  this 
Congress  upon  the  subject  which  is  now  before  us.  I  fully  agree  with  you 
that  this  Congress  of  American  miners  is  not  yet  ready  to  settle  down  at 
any  one  place  in  the  United  States.  I  have  no  special  interest  in  any  city 
of  the  Union,  but  I  am  interested  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  in  the  wel- 


58  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

fare,  of  this  American  Mining  Congress,  which  in  itself  is  one  of  the 
most  notable  propositions  that  has  been  presented  to  the  American  pub- 
lic or  to  the  world.  We  are  here  in  embryo;  we  are  not  as  yet  crystal- 
lized. We  are  just  upon  the  seventh  anniversary  of  the  American  Min- 
ing Congress,  and  its  future  requires  a  great  deal  of  consideration  and 
the  highest  intelligence  of  the  American  miner.  Utah  has  presented 
everything  that  she  could  present,  and  we  heartily  thank  her  for  her 
distinguished  consideration,  but  we  do  not  want  consideration  from  any 
State  of  the  United  States.  I  represent  to-day  100,000  miners,  and  I 
know  that  each  one  of  them  will  give  $10.00  per  capita  to  build  a  fabric 
as  soon  as 

MR.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:     I  rise  to  a  point  of  order,  Mr.  President. 
PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     State  your  point  of  order. 

MR.  JOSEPH:  My  point  of  order  is  that  Colonel  Crawford  is  pro- 
ceeding to  talk  on  the  question  of  a  postponement.  There  is  a  motion  be- 
fore the  house,  and  he  is  not  talking  to  the  motion.  If  any  one  here  had 
any  objection  to  the  establishment  of  permanent  headquarters,  his  time 
was  when  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  brought  in  the  resolution  to 
establish  permanent  headquarters.  A  regular  program  was  arranged  and 
this  subject  assigned  to  this  session  at  2  o'clock. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  point  is  well  taken.  Was  there  a 
second  to  the  motion? 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  be  named  as  the  permanent  business  headquarters 
of  The  American  Mining  Congress.  Are  you  ready  for  the  question? 

MR.  J.  F.  CALLBREATH,  OF  COLORADO:  Mr.  President:  I  move 
that  the  motion  be  amended  by  substituting  the  name  of  Denver  for  that 
of  Salt  Lake  City. 

The  motion  to  amend  was  seconded  and  put  by  the  Chair. 

Hon.  O.  W.  Powers,  of  Utah,  then  took  the  platform  and  addressed 
the  Congress,  urging  the  selection  of  Salt  Lake  City  as  the  permanent 
headquarters  of  The  American  Mining  Congress. 

Mr.  Lafe  Pence,  of  Idaho,  then  arose  and  addressed  the  Congress  in 
favor  of  locating  the  permanent  headquarters  at  Denver. 

Mr.  Dignowity,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  a  speech,  seconded  the  selection  of 
Salt  Lake  City  as  the  permanent  headquarters. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Callbreath,  of  Colorado,  in  a  speech,  urged  the  selection  of 
Denver  as  permanent  headquarters. 

Mr.  Dittmar,  of  California,  then  took  the  floor  and  addressed  the  con- 
vention, favoring  Salt  Lake  City. 

Mr.  Jones,  of  Washington,  then  addressed  the  convention  in  favor  of 
Salt  Lake  City. 

Dr.  J.  E.  Talmage,  of  Utah,  then  addressed  the  Congress  in  favor  of 
Salt  Lake  City. 

Mr.  Cornforth,  of  Alaska,  then  took  the  platform  and  addressed  the 
Congress  in  favor  of  Denver. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  Mr.  President:  It  is  now  5 
o'clock,  and  the  gentleman  who  is  speaking  has  referred  to  our  distin- 
guished Director  of  the  Mint,  Mr.  Roberts.  Mr.  Roberts  is  here,  waiting 
to  address  this  Congress,  before  he  is  obliged  to  take  the  train.  If  the 
gentleman  will  give  way  for  a  few  minutes,  and  continue  his  remarks  to- 
morrow morning  on  this  subject,  as  well  as  others  who  wish  to  speak 
upon  it,  I  would  be  very  much  obliged.  And  whilst  I  have  the  floor  I 
would  make  a  motion,  with  the  permission  of  the  convention  and  of  the 
Chair,  that  we  postpone  this  debate  until  to-morrow  morning  at  10  o'clock. 

(Applause.) 

The  motion  was  seconded. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  59 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Mr.  Cornforth  says  he  is  perfectly  willing 
to  give  way  at  this  time  provided  he  can  close  his  debate  to-morrow 
morning.  If  there  is  no  objection  that  will  be  the  order. 

JUDGE  POWERS,  OF  UTAH:  We  object  to  that,  Mr.  President. 
Let  Mr.  Cornforth  finish  his  remarks  after  Mr.  Roberts  has  concluded 
his  address. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  on  the  motion  as 
to  postponing  further  debate  on  this  question  until  to-morrow  morning? 
Are  you  ready  for  the  question? 

The  question  was  called  for  and  was  put  by  the  Chair,  and  the  ayes 
seemed  to  have  it. 

MR.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:     Mr.  President:     I  ask  for  a  division. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  gentleman  calls  for  a  division.  All 
in  favor  of  that  motion  please  rise. 

MR.  JOSEPH:     Accredited  delegates,  only. 

The  Secretary  counted  the  votes,  and  the  President  called  upon  those 
who  were  opposed  to  the  motion  to  please  rise,  which  they  did.  The 
Chair  announced  that  the  motion  was  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  be  pleased  to  hear  from  Mr. 
Roberts,  Director  of  the  Mint. 

MR.  DERN,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  I  wish  to  say  o  few  words 
in  explanation  right  here,  with  reference  to  those  who  voted  in  the  nega- 
tive on  the  last  motion,  that  it  was  with  the  understanding,  of  course, 
that  Mr.  Roberts  should  take  the  floor  now,  but  that  we  should  only  ad- 
journ this  debate  until  he  had  concluded  his  address,  and  then  let  the 
gentleman  from  Alaska  finish  his  debate.  It  was  not  that  we  wished  to 
continue  this  debate  without  interruption  that  we  voted  in  that  manner. 

MR.  PATTERSON:  A  word  of  answer  to  the  distinguished  gentleman 
from  Utah.  I  would  like  to  say  that  there  are  several,  as  I  am  informed, 
who  desire  to  speak  on  this  question  that  we  have  this  afternoon  been 
discussing,  and  that  we  would  not  have  the  time  to  finish  it  this  evening. 
Therefore,  for  that  reason  I  made  the  motion  that  we  put  it  over  until 
10  o'clock  to-morrow  morning.  I  have  no  desire  to  shove  off  debate  for 
or  against.  For  that  reason  I  think,  unless  every  person  desires  to  stay 
here  and  have  his  supper  brought  in  and  other  refreshments  which  I 
would  like  to  have  sent  along  (laughter),  I  think  we  should  adjourn  until 
10  o'clock.  Mr.  Roberts  is  now  on  the  ulatform,  Mr.  President.  I  pro- 
pose three  cheers  for  Mr.  Roberts. 

Three  hearty  cheers  were  given  for  Mr.  Roberts. 

Mr.  Roberts,  of  Washington,  D.   C.,  then  addressed  the  convention. 

The  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

Whereupon,  on  motion  duly  seconded  and  carried,  the  meeting  ad- 
journed until  10  o'clock  A.  M.,  August  26,  1904. 


FIFTH   DAY— MORNING   SESSION. 

August  26,  1904,  10  o'clock  A.  M. 

The  Congress  was  called  to  order  by  the  President. 

The  Secretary  submitted  an  additional  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Credentials,  which  in  these  proceedings,  for  convenience  and  clearness, 
follows  the  original  report  of  said  committee. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  matter  under  discussion  yesterday  is 
a  special  order  for  this  morning.  No  one  in  this  convention  desires 
fair  play  and  justice  done  more  than  I  do.  The  delegates  that  have  come 


60  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

here  and  presented  the  merits  of  their  city  which  is  so  dear  to  them, 
have  come  at  the  invitation  of  this  Congress,  with  the  understanding  that 
you  would  seriously  consider  the  question  of  locating  the  permanent  head- 
quarters of  this  body.  Some  of  these  gallant  men  who  have  made  such 
a  brilliant  fight  here  feel  that  the  remarks  I  made  yesterday  in  launch- 
ing this  debate  did  them  an  injustice.  In  order  that  if  any  injustice  has 
been  done  them  it  may  be  rectified,  I  desire  to  make  a  statement. 

Anticipating  as  I  did  that  possibly  the  real  merits  of  this  question 
might  not  be  brought  out,  I  stated  to  you  yesterday  that  I  wanted  you  to 
consider  this  question  as  you  did  those  that  were  most  dear  to  you  in  your 
business  affairs,  and  if  you  were  not  satisfied  that  the  merits  of  the  great 
mining  industry  had  been  properly  presented,  you  had  a  right  to  postpone 
it.  I  love  the  State  of  Utah  and  all  it  represents,  and  its  splendid  man- 
hood. I  admire  the  State  of  Colorado  and  all  it  ha.s  done  for  the  great 
West.  But  above  it  all,  I  love  the  mining  industry  and  what  it  means  to 
this  country.  I  love  it  for  what  it  has  done  in  placing  this  great  nation 
foremost  in  the  ranks  of  the  industrial  nations  of  the  earth.  I  recognized 
yesterday  morning  that  we  were  speaking  to  that  great  man  who  stands 
at  the  head  of  our  Government  at  Washington.  I  recognized  that  we  were 
speaking  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  that  Legislative  body  which 
has  no  peer  on  the  earth.  I  recognized  that  we  were  speaking  to  the  lower 
House  of  Congress,  those  great  characters  who  have  such  mighty  influ- 
ence on  the  destiny  of  our  common  country,  and  I  recognized  that  we  were 
going  to  appeal  to  them  to  grant  the  mining  industry  a  great  favor  by  the 
creation  of  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining,  and  I  tried  to  launch  this 
debate  out  upon  a  scale  that  was  worthy  of  those  great  legislative  bodies 
as  well  as  worthy  of  the  mining  industry.  I  wanted  to  say  to  you  that 
if  you  were  not  satisfied  that  the  merits  of  this  question  had  been  pre- 
sented, you  had  a  right  to  postpone  it.  Some  have  placed  an  interpreta- 
tion upon  that  language  that  my  influence  was  in  favor  of  a  postponement. 
Do  not  think  it  for  one  moment.  I  ask  you  to  consider  this  question  as 
great  men,  tall  men,  sun-crowned,  who  live  a.bove  the  fog  of  personal 
feeling  or  local  prejudice.  I  admire  the  brilliant  fight  that  has  been  made 
here,  and,  like  a  thunder  storm  and  the  flash  of  lightning,  it  will  clear  and 
purify  the  atmosphere,  and  we  shall  yet  come  out  glorified  in  the  end. 
Now,  have  I  made  my  position  clear  on  this  question?  If  so,  then  we  are 
ready  for  the  special  order,  and  this  matter  is  open  for  your  disposition; 
but  give  the  State  of  Utah  and  the  State  of  Colorado  fair  consideration, 
and  when  you  are  ready  to  vote,  vote  as  your  conscience  dictates  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  mining  industry,  including  both  of  those  great  States. 

I  believe  Mr.  Cornforth,  of  Alaska,  has  the  right  to  the  floor  this 
morning.  We  will  hear  Mr.  Cornforth. 

Mr.  Cornforth,  of  Alaska,  then  continued  his  address  before  the  con- 
vention. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  have  just  received  the  following  tele- 
gram: 

Marshfield,  Ore.,  Aug.  26,  1904. 
President  American  Mining  Congress,  Portland,  Oregon. 

Coos  Bay  desires  mining  headquarters,  and  respectfully  offers  suitable 
site  free  and  $25,000.00  cash. 

COOS  BAY  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE. 
What  is  your  further  pleasure,  gentlemen? 

MR.  JOSEPH,  OF  UTAH:     I  move  the  previous  question. 

COLONEL  DRAKE,  OF  OREGON:  Without  any  argument  I  desire  to 
present  this  matter  for  consideration,  namely,  that  the  further  considera- 
tion of  this  question  be  postponed  until  the  next  annual  session  of  this 
Congress. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  stated  by  the  Chair. 

Judge  Powers,  of  Utah,  arose  and  addressed  the  convention,  oppos- 
ing the  motion. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  61 

COLONEL  DRAKE,  OF  OREGON:  I  was  not  present  during  all  of 
the  controversy  yesterday,  but  in  view  of  the  fact  that  there  was  a 
certain  amount  of  acrimony  displayed 

MR.  PENCE :     That  has  all  died  out. 

COLONEL  DRAKE:  I  felt  that  perhaps  the  subject  had  not  been 
fully  discussed  and  the  Congress  did  not  fully  understand  all  the  merits 
of  the  proposed  movement,  and  that  inasmuch  as  in  the  end  it  is  up  to 
the  Board  of  Directors,  as  Mr.  Pence  suggests,  I  thought  it  was  better  for 
the  interests  we  all  represent  that  it  should  be  deferred,  and  that  we 
have  a  further  conference  upon  it  at  a  later  time.  I  made  the  motion  so 
that  the  question  can  be  put  before  the  Congress.  I  made  my  motion 
rather  abruptly  before  a  second  could  come  upon  the  call  for  the  previ- 
ous question.  I  want  this  question  put  to  the  Congress  first,  and  if  it  is 
last  then  we  can  pass  upon  it  as  between  Denver  and  Salt  Lake.  I  think 
the  opinion  of  the  Congress  should  be  taken  upon  this  question  and  per- 
haps, Mr.  President,  it  ought  to  be  confined  to  the  members  of  the  cor- 
poration. Perhaps  the  delegates  ought  not  to  be  heard.  I  merely  submit 
this  for  your  consideration. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Will  you  permit  me  to  make  a  state- 
ment, Colonel  Drake?  When  I  was  elected  as  presiding  officer  of  this 
body  two  years  ago  it  was  wholly  on  the  delegate  system.  We  are  now 
in  the  transitional  stage,  from  the  delegate  to  the  membership  system. 
We  have  invited  these  delegates  here,  expecting  they  will  have  the  largest 
measure  of  participation  in  the  great  questions  that  are  to  be  deter- 
mined. But,  as  Mr.  Pence  has  stated  to  you,  this  is  now  a  legally  organ- 
ized body.  We  are  asking  the  advice  of  the  delegates  and  the  members 
to  direct  this  Board  as  to  what  it  should  do.  The  advice  of  a  member 
is  just  the  same  as  the  advice  of  a  delegate;  it  does  not  legally  bind  the 
corporation;  but  we  want  the  advice  of  both.  The  Board  of  Directors 
have  presented  this  for  discussion  in  order  that  we  may  have  the  advice 
of  the  body,  which  includes  both  members  and  delegates.  It  is  not  bind- 
ing upon  the  Board,  but  I  assume  that  your  Board  will  be  of  that  char- 
acter that  it  will  feel  morally  bound  by  your  advice. 

COLONEL  DRAKE:  I  thank  you,  sir.  That  thought  only  occurred 
to  me  as  I  rose,  but  I  concur  with  your  view.  But  I  must  insist  that  it 
is  the  right  of  the  convention  to  pass  upon  the  question  as  to  whether 
they  will  consider  it  now,  or  hold  it  for  future  determination.  I  would 
prefer  that  a  vote  should  be  taken  upon  the  question  as  to  whether  fur- 
ther consideration  shall  go  over  for  one  year  from  this  time. 

MR.  PENCE:     I  yield  to  the  gentleman  from  Nebraska. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA::  I  wish  to  be  heard  upon  this 
before  the  debate  is  closed. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  Every  one  shall  be  heard  so  far  as  my  in- 
fluence goes. 

MR.  JOSEPHS,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  I  rise  to  a  point  of 
order. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     State  your  point  of  order. 

MR.  JOSEPHS:  My  point  of  order  is,  that  according  to  the  rule,  no 
motion  to  postpone  to  a  time  beyond  the  particular  session  of  the  assem- 
bly can  be  heard.  I  call  your  attention  to  Roberts'  Rules  of  Order,  under 
which  we  are  working. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Under  the  by-laws  of  this  body  they 
adopted  Roberts'  Rules  of  Order  to  guide  us  in  our  parliamentary  delib- 
erations. Under  the  head  of  "Postponement  to  a  Certain  Day,"  it  says: 


62  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

"It  is  not  in  order  to  postpone  to  a  time  beyond  that  session  of  the 
assembly,  except  to  a  day  of  the  next  session."  The  point  of  order  is 
not  well  taken. 

Mr.  Pence  then  spoke  against  postponement. 

Mr.  Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  then  addressed  the  Congress  against 
postponement. 

Mr.  Staples/  of  Oregon,  next  addressed  the  Congress  against  post- 
ponement. 

Mr.  White,  of  Ohio,  spoke  against  postponement. 

Mr.  Cook,  of  Missouri,  spoke  against  postponement. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Has  every  one  had  an  opportunity  that 
desires  to  be  heard? 

Mr.  Steele,  of  Alaska,  addressed  the  Congress  against  postponement. 

Colonel  Crawford,  of  Oregon,  spoke  against  postponement. 

Mr.  Mclntyre,  of  Washington,  addressed  the  Congress  favoring  Den- 
ver as  location  of  permanent  headquarters. 

JUDGE  POWERS,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  In  view  of  the  fact 
that  many  delegates  state  that  they  are  compelled  to  leave  at  the  end  of 
this  forenoon  session,  after  consultation  with  the  delegates  from  Colo- 
rado, I  now  move  the  previous  question. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

MR.  PENCE:  May  I  ask  Colonel  Drake  again,  in  view  of  the  ex- 
pressions made,  if  he  will  not  withdralw  his  motion  to  postpone,  and  let 
us  reach  what  evidently  this  assemblage  wants,  namely,  a  test  vote  upon 
the  matter.  I  do  not  hear  Colonel  Drake,  so  Colorado  seconds  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  previous  question  has  been  Amoved 
and  seconded.  The  Question  now  is  to  close  the  debate  and  submit  for 
your  determination  the  postponement  or  non-postponement  of  the  loca- 
tion of  permanent  headquarters.  How  do  you  desire  to  vote?  (Voices, 
"Ayes"  and  "Nos.")  The  question  is,  then,  on  a  postponement.  All  in 
favor  of  that  motion  say  "Aye";  all  opposed,  "No." 

The  motion  to  postpone  was  declared  lost. 

MR.  PENCE:  I  now  move  the  previous  question,  which  was  to  sub- 
stitute the  name  of  Denver  for  Salt  Lake. 

JUDGE  POWERS:     I  second  the  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS :  The  previous  question  is  on  the  substitute 
on  the  original  motion.  The  first  motion  was  made  that  Salt  Lake  be 
named  as  the  permanent  headquarters  of  this  Congress.  A  motion  to 
amend  was  made  by  substituting  Denver  for  Salt  Lake.  The  question 
now  is  as  to  whether  or  not  Salt  Lake  shall  be  named  as  the  permanent 
headquarters  of  this  Congress. 

MR  DITTMAR,  OF  CALIFORNIA:  I  wish  to  ask  what  will  be  the 
method  of  voting,  there  being  many  in  the  audience  who  are  not  entitled 
to  vote;  I  should  think  some  other  method  should  be  adopted  than  a 
vive  voce  vote. 

JUDGE  POWERS:     I  think  it  should  be  by  call  of  the  roll. 
Mr.  O'Hara,  of  South  Dakota,  addressed  the  Congress,  arguing  for 
Denver. 

JUDGE  POWERS:  Mr.  President:  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.  I  in- 
sist that  no  delegate  has  a  right  to  discuss  this  question  after  the  previ- 
ous question  has  been  ordered. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  point  is  well  taken.  I  had  no  idea 
that  any  discussion  of  that  point  was  going  to  be  entered  upon.  The 
question  now  is  on  the  substitute  of  Denver  for  Salt  Lake.  If  the  vote 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  63 

is  to  be  taken  by  roll,  there  is  a  very  long  list  to  call,  but  I  do  not  know 
how  to  make  it  shorter,  unless  you  call  the  States  and  let  them  answer 
how  many  are  here  from  each  State. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:  May  I  inquire,  for  information, 
whether  proxies  and  delegates  vote? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  question  as  to  whether  proxies  vote 
has  been  discussed  during  this  convention,  and  through  the  aid  of  Mr. 
Watson,  one  of  your  Executive  Board,  we  obtained  the  opinion  of  one 
of  the  leading  legal  firms  of  this  city,  which  was  to  the  effect  that  in  cor- 
porations of  this  character  votes  cannot  be  had  by  proxy.  There  is  a  fur- 
ther question  here— I  want  you  all  to  understand  it  before  you  vote- 
there  are  some  members  present  who  have  not  paid  their  dues  under  the 
regulations  of  this  body.  It  is  for  you  to  determine  whether  or  not  they 
have  a  right  to  vote  before  they  have  complied  with  the  rules. 

The  second  question  propounded  by  Mr.  Patterson  was  whether  dele- 
gates who  are  not  members  can  vote.  I  stated  this  point  awhile  ago, 
but  I  will  re-state  it  now.  The  delegate  system  was  the  only  system  in 
vogue  two  years  ago.  We  are  passing  from  that  system  to  the  member- 
ship system.  The  delegates  were  invited  here  on  the  presumption  that 
they  would  have  the  right  to  be  heard  in  any  recommendation  that  goes 
to  the  interests  of  the  Congress;  therefore,  in  the  interest  of  fair  play 
and  justice  to  those  who  have  come  here  on  that  presumption,  I  think 
they  should  have  a  right  to  vote  on  this  question  of  recommending  per- 
manent headquarters. 

(Applause.) 

MR.  WHITE,  OF  OHIO:  Mr.  President:  I  believe  all  the  delegates 
should  vote,  but  I  make  one  recommendation  to  them,  that  before  the 
sun  goes  down  to-day  they  become  members  of  this  Congress. 

(Applause.) 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  NEBRASKA:     I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  all 

delegates  being  allowed  to  vote. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  It  seems  to  me  those  who  are  inter- 
ested enough  to  come  to  this  session  ought  to  be  interested  enough  to 
become  members.  It  is  a  small  contribution  that  is  given,  and  it  is  the 
only  means  we  have  to  sustain  this  organization.  But,  as  you  have  been 
invited  here,  I  think  in  the  interest  of  justice  every  delegate  should  have 
a  right  to  a  voice  in  this  recommendation. 

MR.  PATTERSON:  I  would  suggest  that  the  States  vote  their  dele- 
gations as  they  do  political  conventions.  We  have  over  a  thousand  mem- 
bers and  delegates. 

MR.  DITTMAR:  The  difficulty  with  that,  Mr.  President,  is  that  the 
State  delegations  are  very  much  scattered,  very  few  of  them  being  lo- 
cated together. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection,  the  Secretary 
will  call  the  roll. 

Secretary  Mahon  thereupon  proceeded  to  call  the  roll  of  members 
and  delegates,  and  before  the  result  of  the  vote  was  announced  cheers 
and  applause  announced  that  Denver  had  won. 

JUDGE  POWERS,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  Representing  the  Salt 
Lake  delegation,  I  am  requested  to  move  that  Denver  be  made  the  unani- 
mous choice  of  this  convention  for  the  permanent  headquarters  of  The 
American  Mining  Congress.  (Great  applause.)  In  submitting  this  motion 
I  simply  desire  to  say  that  if  Denver  will  do  one-half  as  well  for  the 
Congress  as  Salt  Lake  would  have  done  had  you  chosen  that  city,  it  will 
be  a  magnificent  success  for  all  time  to  come. 

(Great  applause.) 


64  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

MR.  PENCE,  OF  IDAHO:  Mr.  President  and  Delegates  of  this  Con- 
gress: In  behalf  of  the  beautiful  city  at  the  eastern  feet  of  the  Rockies, 
I  desire  to  acknowledge  the  graceful  motion  just  made  by  the  representa- 
tive from  Salt  Lake,  and  to  give  him  assurance  that  we  will  measure 
height  to  the  splendid  duty  which  you  have  assigned  to  us.  It  was  the 
natural  thing  to  do,  and  directly  we  shall  all  be  glad.  As  Mecca  is  to  the 
Mohammedan,  and  Jerusalem  to  the  faithful,  so  is  Denver  to  all  the  min- 
ing world.  (Applause.)  It  draws  unto  itself  as  if  by  the  power  of  gravita- 
tion all  persons  so  interested,  as  the  earth  gathers  to  itself  all  of  its 
atoms.  It  has  all  the  drawing  power  that  the  pie  counter  has  for  the  of- 
fice-seeker. (Laughter.)  Mr.  President,  be  not  in  doubt,  be  not  afraid-. 
No  duty  ever  yet  has  been  assigned  that  noble  city  wherein  she  failed. 
No  duty  can  be  laid  upon  her  shoulders  that  will  make  her  stoop.  Be 
patient  with  us  in  Colorado  but  a  little  while;  we  will  find  that  even,  sure 
line  of  justice  that  rests  between  the  two  extremes  that  are  inevitable 
whenever  the  passions  of  men  are  aroused.  We  will,  to  our  satisfaction, 
and  to  your  benefit,  have  made  easy  the  settlement  of  such  difficulties  in 
the  future.  We  extend  to  you  our  heartfelt  appreciation  for  your  good- 
ness and  the  honor. 

(Applause.) 

COLONEL  EWING,  OF  CALIFORNIA:  I  move  that  we  adjourn  un- 
til 3  o'clock. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  There  is  a  motion  pending.  The  question 
is  on  the  motion  of  Salt  Lake  making  the  selection  of  Denver  unanimous, 
which  has  just  been  seconded  by  Mr.  Pence. 

MR.  COBB,  OF  TEXAS:  I  am  instructed  by  the  Texas  delegation 
to  second  the  motion  of  the  gentleman  from  Utah.  And  I  am  further  in- 
structed by  them  to  say  that  if  Denver,  the  proud  city  of  the  Eastern 
slope  of  the  Rockies,  does  her  duty  as  well  as  the  delegation  has  done 
from  Utah,  the  permanent  home  will  be  a  success. 

(Applause.) 

The  motion  was  then  put  to  a  vote  and  was  unanimously  carried, 
and  President  Richards  announced  that  Denver  had  been  recommended  as 
the  permanent  home  of  this  Congress. 

Whereupon  the  Congress  adjourned  until  2:30  P.  M.  August  26th. 


FIFTH    DAY— AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

August  26,  1904,  2:30  P.  M. 

The  President  called  the  Congress  to  order. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  announcement: 

Portland,  Aug.  26,  1904. 
To  Officers,  Members  and  Friends  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 

The  Seattle  delegation  wishes  to  announce  through  the  courtesy  of 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  Company  and  the  management  of  the 
Bonanza  Mining  Company  a  free  trip  from  Seattle  to  Silverton,  Wash- 
ington, and  return,  a  distance  of  seventy  miles,  on  next  Tuesday  morning, 
to  visit  the  mines  of  Silverton  and  behold  the  beauties  of  the  mountains — 
the  Switzerland  of  America.  This  section  is  unsurpassed  for  scenery  any- 
where in  the  known  world. 

The  Bonanza  Queen  Company  claims  the  distinction  of  having  the 
deepest  mine  on  the  North  Pacific  Coast,  having  a  vertical  depth  of  1,070 
feet,  and  there  cuts  the  enormous  ledge  of  133  feet  in  width  between  well 
defined  fissure  walls. 

This  company  is  practically  a  close  corporation,  and  has  never 
advertised  a  single  share  of  stock  for  sale.  It  claims  the  most  ideal  mine 
in  North  America,  and  the  largest  copper  deposit  as  well  as  the  richest 
and  most  accessible. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  65 

Visitors  will  be  shown  through  the  mine  and  enjoy  the  most  delight- 
ful trip  to  the  Coast. 

Tickets  will  be  handed  out  at  the  Butler  &  Dillers  Hotel,  Seattle,  next 
Monday,  by  the  committee. 

JAMES  GIVENS. 

R.  W.  RODDA. 

W.  H.  JONES. 

W.  J.  WALTERS. 

O.  S.  DERINGER. 

DR.  E.  A.  HUTCHINS. 

P.  D.  BOUTELL. 

AND.  JOHNSON. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  will  now  have  the  pleasure  of  listen- 
ing to  an  address  by  James  W.  Abbott,  of  Colorado,  on  the  subject  of 
"Mining  Men  for  Better  Roads." 

This  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

Mr.  Abbott  then  introduced  the  following  resolution: 

Resolved,  by  The  American  Mining  Congress  in  annual  session 
assembled,  that  we  recognize  the  need  for  an  improved  standard  of  high- 
ways in  the  United  States,  and  we  urge  the  National  Congress  and  all 
State  Legislatures  to  make  it  the  subject  of  earnest  deliberation  and  judi- 
cious legislation. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  am  requested  by  the  Chairman  of  the 
Credentials  Committee  to  state  that  by  calling  upon  him  he  will  return 
to  you  your  credentials. 

MR.  JOSEPHS,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  I  desire  at  this  time  to 
move  that  a  committee  of  three,  consisting  of  Mr.  Malcomson,  of  Texas; 
Mr.  H.  S.  Clark,  of  Montana,  and  Mr.  Steele,  of  Alaska,  be  appointed 
to  audit  the  accounts  of  the  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  and  report  to  the 
Congress  before  the  close  of  the  session. 
-  The  motion  was  seconded. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  will  state  before  that  motion  is  put  that 
your  Board  of  Directors  has  had  under  consideration  these  accounts,  but 
has  not  yet  acted  upon  them.  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  motion? 

MR.  JOSEPHS:  Under  those  circumstances,  if  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors have  undertaken  the  task,  I  desire  to  withdraw  my  motion,  with  the 
consent  of  my  second. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Board  of  Directors  will  make  a 
report  to  you  to-morrow  morning  upon  that  question.  We  want  every 
one  to  understand  the  finances  of  this  institution  before  this  session  ad- 
journs, and  the  report  will  be  made  to-morrow  morning. 

If  Mr.  Lafe  Pence  is  in  the  room  I  wish  to  say  to  him  that  he  is 
wanted  on  the  platform. 

Mr.  Pence  came  to  the  platform  in  obedience  to  the  President's  call. 

Mr.  Cornforth,  of  Alaska  (bearing  a  large  bouquet  of  roses) :  Mr. 
President  and  Delegates:  I  ean  not  understand  why  the  ladies  of  the 
Rose  Society  of  Portland  have  given  me  the  distinction  of  presenting  this 
beautiful  bouquet  of  roses  to  the  honorable  gentleman,  unless  they  knew 
something  of  my  previous  history.  The  first  girl  born  in  the  Territory  of 
Wyoming  was  a  girl 

(Great  laughter  and  applause.) 

MR.  PENCE:     So  was  her  sister. 
(Laughter.) 

MR.  CORNFORTH  (Continuing)— and  since  then  I  have  been  a  de- 
fender of  the  rights  of  woman,  and  did  what  I  could  in  their  behalf  in 
Wyoming  and  Utah.  I  can  not  see  why  those  rights  should  be  accorded 


66  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

them  more  freely  in  our  mining  States  than  in  other  States  of  the  Union. 
I  esteem  it  an  honor  to  present  to  you,  Mr.  Lafe  Pence,  on  behalf  of 
the  Ladies'  Rose  Society  of  Portland,  this  bouquet  of  roses,  which  I  ask 
you  to  accept. 

MR.  PENCE:  Ladies:  You  do  not  know  how  good  it  seems,  after 
some  personal  'allusions  of  yesterday,  to  have  bouquets  thrown  at  me  to- 
day. I  thank  you.  Not  for  my  own  account,  or  for  any  little  thing  I  may 
have  done,  but  more  because  down  towards  the  southeast  is  one  who, 
when  she  comes  to  Portland,  will  be  glad  to  be  the  friend  of  the  sweet 
ladies  who  have  been  kind  to  her  wayward  and  wandering  husband. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     We  will  now  be  favored  with  an  address 
from  Mr.  F.  Wallace  White,  on  the  subject  of  "The  Investor  in  Mines." 
This  address  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  This  closes  our  program  as  arranged  by 
your  Program  Committee,  but  Mr.  J.  H.  Lighter  of  Portland  desires 
to  offer  a  resolution. 

MR.  LIGHTER:     I  wish  to  offer  the  following  resolution: 
Whereas,  weekly  rest  is  necessary  to  all,  especially  laboring  men; 

therefore. 

Resolved,  that  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  Congress  than  all  Sunday 

labor-  should  be  avoided  as  far  as  possible  in  all  mining  camps  by  mining 

men  and  miners. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  resolution  will  be  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions. 

MR.STEELE,  OF  ALASKA:  Mr.  President:  I  rise  to  a  question  of 
privilege.  I  think  it  is  one  that  every  one  in  this  hall  will  be  in  sympathy 
with.  I  want  to  speak  of  the  man  who  has  done  more  to  place  this  Min- 
ing Congress  .on  the  foundation  where  it  stands  to-day  than  perhaps  any 
other  one  man.  I  want  to  speak  of  the  man  who  conceived  the  idea  of 
The  American  Mining  Congress,  and  spent  his  own  money  in  order  to 
make  it  a  success,  a  man  who  is  known  in  the  great  State  of  Colorado,  and 
from  there  to  the  Pacific  Ocean;  a  man  who  is  known  from  the  Pacific 
to  the  Northern  part  of  this  great  American  continent,  who  not  only 
spent  his  own  money  and  time,  but  influenced  his  friends  to  do  the  same 
thing,  and  thereby  give  us  the  Congress  that  we  have  to-day.  The  man 
of  whom  I  speak  is  among  you,  and  I  want  to  make  a  motion  that  the 
Hon.  Joseph  T.  Cornforth  be  presented  with  an  honorary  life  membership 
in  The  American  Mining  Congress. 

COLONEL  CRAWFORD,  OF  OREGON:  I  second  the  motion  that  Mr. 
Cornforth  be  presented  with  a  certificate  of  membership  for  life. 

(Applause.) 

The  motion  was  carried  unanimously. 

There  were  calls  for  Mr.  Cornforth.  Mr.  Cornforth  rose  and  tried  to 
address  the  convention,  but,  overcome  by  emotion,  he  bowed  his  thanks 
and  sat  down  amid  great  applause. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  will  take  this  occasion  to  say,  in  behalf 
of  Mr.  Cornforth,  that  I  have  known  him  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
He  is  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  great  West,  reaching  from  the  Missouri 
River  almost  to  the  North  Pole.  He  has  done  more  to  inspire  the  mining 
industry  in  this  Western  country  to  that  high  ideal  at  which  we  now  see 
it,  than  perhaps  any  other  man  in  the  great  Rocky  Mountain  region.  At 
one  time  in  the  history  of  this  organization,  when  it  seemed  as  though 
the  honor  of  his  State  and  city  was  imperiled,  in  order  that  it  might  be  re- 
deemed and  this  Congress  placed  upon  a  proper  footing,  he  stepped  forth 
and  paid  the  expenses  necessary  to  redeem  the  name  of  his  city.  (Great 
applause.)  It  is  one  of  the  pleasantest  duties  that  I  have  on  this  occasion 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  67 

to  say  that  I  am  grateful  that  you  have  acknowledged  the  character  of 
manhood  which  means  so  much  to  the  mining  industry  of  the  West  in  hon- 
joring  him  with  that  life  membership,  and  I  thank  you  for  it. 

COLONEL  DRAKE,  OF  OREGON:  Mr.  President:  Permit  me  to 
ask  everybody  to  join  in  three  cheers  for  the  father  of  The  American 
Mining  Congress,  Joseph  T.  Cornforth. 

The  cheers  were  given,  led  by  Colonel  Drake. 

Whereupon  the  Congress  adjourned  until  10  o'clock  A.  M.  August  27, 
1904. 


SIXTH   DAY— CONCLUDING  SESSION. 

The  President  called  the  Congress  to  order. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  title  and  ordered  published  in  the 
proceedings:     ''The  Ryan  Electro-Magnetic  Separator." 
This  paper  will  be  found  in  Part  II.  of  this  report. 
The  Secretary  read  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  as 
follows : 

Committee  Room,  August  27,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  19,  introduced  by  Ex-Lieut, 
Gov.  Thurston  Daniels,  of  Washington,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recom- 
mends its  adoption  by  the  Congress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.   E.   TALMAGE,  Secretary. 

RESOLUTION  NO.  19. 

By  Thurston  Daniels,  Washington. 

Whereas,  the  South  half  of  the  Colville  Reservation,  in  the  State  of 
Washington,  embraces  within  its  boundaries  one  ,of  the  richest  mineral 
regions  in  the  United  States,  showing  large  bodies  of  gold,  silver,  copper, 
lead,  nickel  and  cobalt,  iron,  asbestos,  white,  green  and  variegated  mar- 
ble, onyx  and  other  valuable  minerals  and  products  of  the  earth;  and, 

Whereas,  the  North  half  of  said  reservation  has  been  thrown  open  to 
settlement  and  the  mining  interests  of  that  section  have  been  thereby 
materially  stimulated  and  developed,  and  the  extension  of  lines  of  trans- 
portation encouraged  and  accomplished;  and, 

Whereas,  legislation  has  for  some  time  been  pending  in  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  looking  to  the  opening  of  the  South  half  of  the 
Colville  Reservation  to  white  settlement;  and, 

Whereas,  such  delay  has  retarded  the  development  of  this  rich  min- 
eral region,  to  the  detriment  of  the  interests  of  those  owning  and  ope- 
rating mining  properties  in  that  district;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  by  The  American  Mining  Congress,  in  annual  session  assem- 
bled, that  the  Committees  on  Indian  Affairs  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives and  of  the  United  States  Senate,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  respectfully 
memorialized  to  hasten  the  enactment  of  necessary  legislation  for  the 
immediate  opening  of  the  South  half  of  the  Colville  Reservation  to  white 
settlement. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolution 
just  read,  and  the  report  of  the  committee? 

MR.  JOSEPHS,  OF  UTAH:  I  move  that  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee be  adopted. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  the  report  unanimously  adopted. 

The  Secretary  submitted  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions regarding  Resolutions  Nos.  17  and  18,  as  follows: 


68  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Committee  Room,  August  27,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  following 
resolutions,  designated  as  Resolutions  Nos.  17  and  18,  introduced  by  Mr. 
Dodge,  of  Oregon,  and  Mr.  Josephs,  of  Utah,  without  recommendation,  as 
the  purpose  of  these  resolutions  is  covered  by  that  of  the  general  resolu- 
tion of  thanks,  designated  as  No.  20. 

J.   E.   TALMAGE,  Secretary. 

RESOLUTION  NO.   17. 

By  Mr.  Dodge,  of  Oregon. 

Resolved,  that  the  members  of  The  American  Mining  Congress  and 
the  delegates  in  attendance  thereto  and  their  wives  and  their  lady  friends 
hereby  extend  their  hearty  thanks  and  appreciation  to  the  Commercial 
Club,  of  Porland,  the  officers  thereof,  and  to  the  Reception  Committee  of 
ladies,  and  to  the  Reception  Committee  of  gentlemen,  in  charge  of  the  re- 
ception, for  the  enjoyable  and  pleasant  entertainment  given  in  their  rooms 
last  evening.  Every  one  who  was  present  will  always  remember  the  occa- 
sion with  great  pleasure. 

RESOLUTION    NO.    18. 

By  H.  S.  Josephs,  of  Utah. 

Resolved,  that  the  thanks  of  The  American  Mining  Congress  individu- 
ally and  collectively,  be  extended  to  the  speakers  of  the  convention  for  its 
intelligent  efforts;  to  the  Press  for  its  uniform  courtesy  and  efforts  to 
make  this  Congress  a  success;  to  the  Commercial  Club  for  its  elegant  re- 
ception to  all  the  delegates;  to  the  ladies  of  Portland  for  their  success- 
ful treatment  of  the  ladies  of  the  delegates;  to  all  the  officers  of  this  con- 
vention, the  several  committees  and  employes,  for  their  untiring  efforts 
in  behalf  of  the  success  of  this  Congress. 

The  Secretary  also  read  in  connection  with  the  preceding  resolutions 
and  report,  the  following  resolution  and  the  report  of  the  committee 
thereon: 

Committee  Room,  August  27,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  20,  introduced  by  this  com- 
mittee, and,  by  unanimous  vote  recommends  its  adoption  by  the  Con- 
gress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.   E.   TALMAGE,   Secretary. 

RESOLUTION  NO.  20. 

Whereas,  this  Congress  recognizes  and  appreciates  that  the  success 
of  this  session  has  resulted  in  a  large  measure  from  the  interest  and 
attention  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  United  States,  the  Governors  of 
the  several  States,  especially  the  Governor  of  Oregon,  the  citizens  of  the 
City  of  Portland,  especially  the  committees  in  charge  of  entertainment 
and  arrangements,  and  to  those  who  have  participated  in  the  delibera- 
tions; therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  The  American  Mining  Congress,  in  convention  assem- 
bled in  the  City  of  Portland,  does  hereby  extend  its  grateful  thanks  to — 

His  Excellency,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  representatives  of  President  Roosevelt,  Mr.  T.  A.  Rickard,  and 
Mr.  S.  W.  Mudd,  both  of  whom  have  been  in  attendance  uuon  the  meet- 
ings of  this  Congress. 

The  representatives  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  and  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  Mr.  Gifford  Pinchot,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  For- 
estry, and  Mr.  F.  H.  Newell,  Chief  of  the  Reclamation  Service,  also  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  United  States  Geological  Survey  and  their  representatives,  Mr. 
S.  F.  Emmons,  and  Mr.  J.  S.  Diller,  for  interest  and  participation  in 
the  proceedings  of  this  Congress. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  69 

The  Governors  of  States  and  Territories,  and  especially  Governor 
Geo.  E.  Chamberlain,  of  Oregon. 

The  citizens  of  Portland,  their  clubs  and  commercial  organizations, 
and  especially  to -His  Honor,  Mayor  Geo.  H.  Williams;  the  Commercial 
Club,  the  Woman's  Club  and  their  President,  Mrs.  P.  J.  Mann;  the  Port- 
land Rose  Society  and  their  President,  Mrs.  Rose  Hoyt,  and  the  local 
committees  on  arrangements  and  entertainment. 

The  representatives  of  the  Press,  who  have  so  fully  and  ably  reported 
the  proceedings  of  this  session. 

The  Portland  Railway  Company,  and  the  City  and  Suburban  Rail- 
way Company. 

The  management  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Fair. 

The  management  of  the  Multnomah  Fair  Association. 

The  management  of  the  Cordray  Theater. 

The  speakers  who  have  so  ably  addressed  this  convention. 

And  the  President,  Secretary,  and  other  officers  of  this  Congress;  the 
stenographers  and  other  employes  of  the  Congress. 

MR.  COBB,  OF  TEXAS:  Mr.  President:  I  move  the  adoption  of  the 
two  resolutions  just  read,  with  the  report  of  the  ccmmittee  thereon,  by 
a  rising  vote. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  the  resolutions  unanimously  adopted. 
The  Secretary  also  submitted  the  following  report  of  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions: 

Committee  Room,  August  27,  1904. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  respectfully  reports  back  the  following 
resolution,  designated  as  Resolution  No.  21,  introduced  by  Mr.  Abbott,  of 
Colorado,  and,  by  unanimous  vote,  recommends  its  adoption  by  the  Con- 
gress. 

E.  R.  BUCKLEY,  Chairman. 
J.   E.   TALMAGE,  Secretary. 

RESOLUUTION  NO.  21. 

By  Mr.  Abbott,  Colorado. 

Resolved,  by  The  American  Mining  Congress,  in  annual  session  as- 
sembled, that  we  recognize  the  need  for  an  improved  standard  of  high- 
ways in  the  United  States,  and  we  urge  the  National  Congress  and  all 
State  Legislatures  to  make  it  the  subject  of  earnest  deliberation  and  judi- 
cious legislation. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  report  of  the  committee  be 
adopted. 

The  Secretary  submitted  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
concerning  Resolution  No.  9,  substitute,  introduced  by  Mr.  Gibens,  of 
Washington,  recommending  that  said  resolution  be  referred  to  Mr.  Newell, 
of  the  Commission  created  by  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolu- 
tion? 

MR.  DIGNOWITY:  Do  I  understand  that  means  three  claims,  with 
an  additional  one  for  the  discoverer,  in  a  district? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  No,  it  is  in  a  drainage  area.  Whether  the 
drainage  area  includes  the  whole  Yukon  territory  or  not  I  can  not  tell. 

MR.  SNYDER..  OF  COLORADO:  I  would  like  to  ask  the  proposer 
of  the  resolution  what  was  the  idea  of  introducing  it? 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  This  resolution  was  before  the  body  the 
other  day  and  the  word  "district"  was  used,  and  it  was  objected  that  that 
did  not  make  it  definite,  now  they  have  substituted  "drainage  area." 

MR.  BUCKLEY,  OF  MISSOURI:  This  resolution  was  returned  to  the 
author  of  it,  and  he  returned  it  to  the  committee  with  the  suggestion 


70  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

that  we  use  the  substitute  "drainage  area."  I  did  not  hear  an  expression 
of  opinion  as  to  whether  drainage  area,  or  creek,  or  river,  would  apply  in 
that  case;  but  it  meets  the  approval  of  the  committee,  so  far  as  that  is 
concerned. 

MR.  LAFE  PENCE:  Inasmuch  as  Mr.  Steele,  of  Alaska,  is  specially 
interested  in  representing  the  territory  concerned  and  he  is  not  at  this 
moment  present,  I  would  suggest  that  it  be  passed  until  a  later  time  when 
he  can  be  present. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  If  there  is  no  objection  the  Chair  will 
adopt  the  suggestion. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  message,  and  also  the  following  let- 
ter: 

Spokane,  Wash.,  Aug.  25,  1904. 
Irwin  Mahon,  Secretary  American  Mining  Congress,  Portland,  Oregon. 

Dear  Sir:  We  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  the  invitation  extended 
by  the  Spokane  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  the  delegates  in  attendance  at 
the  sessions  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  to  visit  Spokane.  If  we  are 
notified  in  advance  we  shall  take  pleasure  in  having  a  committee  meet 
them  at  the  depot  and  show  them  about  the  city. 

Spokane  is  the  headquarters  for  the  greatest  mining  section  of  the 
Pacific  Northwest;  that  tributary  to  Spokane  are  the  greatest  silver-lead 
mines  of  the  world,  the  famous  Coeur  d'Alenes  of  Northern  Idaho. 

With  best  wishes^  we  remain 

Very  truly  yours, 

L.  G.  MONROE,  Secretary. 

The  Secretary  reported  the  following  resolution  prepared  by  a  spe- 
cial committee  appointed  for  the  purpose,  and  upon  motion  duly  seconded, 
the  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  by  a  rising  vote: 
To  The  American  Mining  Congress'  Seventh  Annual  Session,   Portland, 

Oregon. 

Whereas,  By  the  death  of  the  Honorable  John  T.  Grayson,  late  Third 
Vice  President  of  this  Congress,  and  an  honored  citizen  of  the  City  of 
Portland,  and  State  of  Oregon,  this  Congress  has  been  deprived  of  a  capa- 
ble and  useful  official  and  member;  the  mining  industry  of  an  efficient 
and  zealous  worker,  and  the  City  and  State  of  a  loyal  and  honorable  citi- 
zen; therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  that  this  Congress  hereby  expresses  its  profound  sorrow 
for  the  death  of  the  Honorable  John  T.  Grayson,  and  tenders  to  the  wife 
and  family  of  Colonel  Grayson  this  expression  of  its  sympathy  in  their  be- 
reavement, and  directs  that  this  resolution  shall  be  spread  upon  the  rec- 
ords of  this  Congress,  and  a  copy  thereof  suitably  engrossed  forwarded  to 
the  widow  and  family  of  the  deceased. 

R.   C.   PATTERSON, 
C.  W.  SCOTT, 
COLONEL.    DRAKE, 

Committee. 

Colonel  Crawford  of  Oregon  extended  an  invitation  to  the  members 
of  the  Congress  to  visit  Josephine  County  and  Grant's  Pass,  promising  to 
take  care  of  them  and  show  them  many  points  of  interest. 

SECRETARY'S    REPORT. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:     In  order  to  make  clear  in  your  minds  the 
ifference  between  the  two  funds  that  have  been  used  in  connection  with 
this  Congress,  before  reading  the  report  of  the  Secretary  I  desire  to  make 
a  statement.    The  City  of  Portland  agreed  to  pay  to  this  Congress  for  its 
exclusive  use  the  sum  of  $3,000.00.     The  citizens  of  this  city  deposited 
that  amount  in  the  treasury.    The  citizens  of  Portland  also  raised  a  fund 
to  meet  the  local  expenses  of  this  organization,  its  Secretary    entertain- 
ment   halls,  etc.     Something  like  $7,500.00  has  been  raised  fo'r  that  pur- 
pose by  the  City  of  Portland.     Of  this  sum  $3,000.00  was  turned  over  to 
ingress  itself,  and  that  is  the  only  fund  of  which  this  Coneress  ex- 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  71 

pects  to  report  to  you.  The  other  fund  was  paid  out  by  the  citizens  of 
Portland,  under  their  direction,  Mr.  J.  Frank  Watson  acting  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  business  men  of  this  city,  and  he  will  make  a  state- 
ment to  you  relative  to  that. 

I  want  to  say  to  you  before  reading  this  report  that  your  Board  of 
Directors  held  two  sessions,  night  before  last  and  last  night,  going  into 
every  item  and  every  detail,  and  the  report  we  make  to-day  meets  the 
unanimous  approval  of  the  entire  Board.  We  had  on  that  Board  during 
this  investigation  Colonel  Ewing,  of  California;  Mr.  Bern,  of  Utah;  Mr. 
Patterson,  of  Nebraska,  and  Mr.  Watson,  of  Portland.  Every  detail  was 
investigated  and  we  approved  the  report  of  the  Secretary  as  I  am  about 
to  read  it  to  you.  There  were  some  things  in  that  account  that  the  Board 
did  not  approve  of;  they  were  stricken  out,  and  every  item  was  corrected 
to  meet  the  entire  approval  of  the  Board.  Colonel  Ewing  finished  the  de- 
tails of  the  report,  with  the  authority  of  the  Board,  and  as  he  is  one  of 
the  hardest  headed  business  men  I  have  ever  had  the  pleasure  of  know- 
ing, I  feel  that  when  he  sets  his  approval  upon  an  accounting  we  can  en- 
dorse it  confidently  and  heartily.  The  report  reads  as  follows: 
To  the  President  and  Members  of  The  American  Mining  Congress. 

Gentlemen:  I  herewith  submit  for  your  approval  my  annual  report 
as  Secretary  of  The  American  Mining  Congress,  from  September  13,  1903, 
to  August  27,  1904. 

SUMMARY  OF  ACCOUNT. 

Cash  Portland   Guarantee  Fund $3,000.00 

From  membership  and  dues '. 1,404.00 


Total  cash  received  and  deposited  with  treasurer.$4,404.00 
There  is  due  from  members  $508.00. 
There  are  no  outstanding  bills  that  I  know  of. 

IRWIN  MAHON,  Secretary. 
Cr. 

Cash  Statement. 

From   City  of  Portland $3,000.00 

From  membership  certificates  and  dues $1,404.00 


$4,404.00 

DISBURSING  ACCOUNT. 
Dr. 

Cash  Statement. 

Paid  back  bills  from  last  session $  185.30 

Secretary's  salary  one  year 1,800.00 

Postage  during  the  year 158.20 

Expressage    18.55 

Printing  literature   during   year 186.55 

Telegraphing  and  messengers 38.40 

Traveling  expenses  of  secretary : 332.05 

Incidental  expenses   118.73 

Stenographing    110.10 

Stationery  and  cuts  for  headings 23.30 

Office  rent  at  Carlisle,  Pa 120.00 

Daily  papers  at  Portland 9.90 

Hotel  bills  at  Portland 150.55 

Expense  and  translating  foreign  letters 74.25 

Balance  cash  in  bank..                                                      .  1,077.12 


$4,404.00 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Dignowity,  of  Pennsylvania,  duly  seconded,  the  re- 
port was  unanimously  adopted. 


72  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Mr.  Watson  will  make  a  statement  in  re- 
gard to  the  expenditure  of  the  other  fund. 

MR.  J.  FRANK  WATSON,  OF  OREGON:  Mr.  President  and  Gentle- 
men: About  $8,000.00  has  been  raised  by  the  citizens  of  Portland,  the  dis- 
position of  which  will  be  shown  in  a  full  and  complete  statement  with 
vouchers,  later  on  when  I  complete  paying  the  bills.  The  amount  paid  to 
the  Congress,  as  you  have  heard  by  the  Secretary's  report,  was  $3,000.00, 
the  balance  has  been  expended  in  various  ways  under  my  direction,  with 
the  aid  of  the  Secretary.  We  have  been  very  well  satisfied  with  the  re- 
sult, and  trust  you  will  all  feel  that  the  Congress  has  been  a  success.  The 
citizens  of  Portland  feel  that  lasting  benefit  will  result  to  the  city,  and  I 
wish  to  express  on  their  behalf  thanks  to  the  members  of  this  Congress 
for  having  given  us  such  an  interesting  session. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  wish  to  state  for  your  information  that 
Mr.  Watson  has  kept  an  account  in  a  business-like  manner,  and  has  a 
voucher  for  every  dollar  expended  which  he  will  report  to  the  citizens  of 
this  city. 

MR.  PATTERSON,  OF  OMAHA:  Mr.  President:  I  would  like  to 
move  just  at  this  time  that  the  Congress  express  its  gratitude,  apprecia- 
tion and  thanks  to  our  friend,  fellow-officer  and  director,  Mr.  J.  Frank 
Watson,  for  what  he  has  done  in  helping  the  citizens  of  Portland  to  make 
this  Congress  a  success. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  unanimously  carried. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  We  now  have  in  the  treasury,  as  I  have 
just  read,  $1,077.12,  after  all  bills  have  been  paid.  In  addition  to  that  we 
have  $3,000.00  in  a  certified  check  from  the  City  of  El  Paso,  which  makes 
$4,077.12.  I  make  this  statement  because  I  want  the  people  of  this  coun- 
try to  know,  that  it  may  go  into  the  record  that  it  has  been  the  strenuous 
effort  of  the  officers  of  this  body  to  place  it  011  a  clean-cut,  business  basis. 
During  the  coming  year  we  expect  to  adopt  a  system  of  duplicate  vouchers 
for  every  cent  expended.  You  have  no  idea  what  difficulties  have  been 
surmounted.  The  first  business  organization,  if  you  may  call  it  a  business 
organization,  was  made  up  of  delegates  from  all  nations  on  the  globe. 
There  could  be  no  business  system  adopted  because  we  had  no  finances. 
The  Secretary  could  not  do  all  the  work.  Coming  from  that  system  of 
delegates  over  to  the  system  of  members,  which  will  finally,  in  my  judg- 
ment, prevail,  there  will  come  with  it  that  business  system  and  manage- 
ment which  will  commend  itself  to  the  best  business  thought  of  the  day. 
That  is  our  aim.  Now,  in  order  to  assist  in  accomplishing  that  end,  you 
authorized  me  to  appoint  a  committee  to  give  that  careful  consideration 
which  should  be  given,  and  place  before  you  for  nomination  as  directors  of 
this  body  that  class  of  men  which  would  meet  the  approval  of  that  com- 
mittee as  being  men  of  such  high  character  that  it  would  be  a  guarantee 
to  the  people  who  contributed  their  funds  to  this  body  that  they  would  be 
honestly  and  ably  expended.  I  have  the  report  of  that  committee  from  its 
chairman,  which  reads  as  follows: 
To  the  President  of  The  American  Mining  Congress.  - 

Your  Committee  appointed  to  select  and  recommend  to  the  Congress 
names  of  the  members  of  the  Congress  for  the  Board  of  Directors  to  serve 
during  the  ensuing  year,  after  careful  consideration,  with  the  view  of 'se- 
lecting members  who  would  give  this  'their  personal  attention,  most  re- 
spectfully and  unanimously  recommend  the  following  named  gentlemen: 

J.  H.  Richards,  Idaho. 

Col.  Thomas  Ewing,  California. 

E.  R.  Buckley,  Missouri. 

A.  W.  Gifford,  Texas. 

John  Dern,  Utah. 

William  Lennox,  Colorado. 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  73 

J.  Frank  Watson,  Oregon. 
Joseph  T.  Cornforth,  Alaska. 
George  W.  E.  Dorsey,  Nebraska. 

THOMAS  EWING,  Chairman. 

It  was  moved  that  the  report  be  adopted. 

MR.  JOSEPHS,  OF  UTAH:  I  move  as  an  amendment  that  the  Secre- 
tary be  instructed  to  cast  the  ballot  of  the  entire  Congress  for  the  names 
reported  by  the  committee  to  serve  as  directors  during  the  ensuing  year. 

The  amendment  was  accepted  by  the  mover  of  the  original  motion. 

The  motion  having  been  stated  by  the  Chair  and  the  question  called, 
the  motion  was  put  to  a  vote  and  unanimously  carried;  whereupon  the 
Secretary  cast  the  ballot  of  the  Congress  for  the  parties  named  as  direc- 
tors and  declared  them  unanimously  elected. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  That  covers  all  business  that  I  have  on 
the  desk. 

MR.  JOSEPHS,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  I  have  a  motion  to  make. 
My  attention  has  been  called  to  the  matter  by  Mr.  Cobb,  of  Texas,  that 
in  order  to  bring  the  subject  matter  of  this  Congress  properly  before  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  and  the  several  state  governments,  that 
a  copy  of  the  proceedings  when  printed  and  published  be  forwarded  to 
the  executive  officers  of  the  United  States,  to  the  National  representatives 
at  Washington,  and  to  the  governors  of  each  State  and  Territory  of  the 
Union. 

I  therefore  move  that  copies  be  sent  as  suggested. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried, 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Under  the  rules  every  member  and  dele- 
gate is  entitled  to  a  copy  of  the  annual  proceedings,  and  a  copy  will  be 
mailed  to  each  one  as  his  address  appears  upon  the  record. 

COLONEL  DRAKE,  OF  OREGON:  After  conference  with  the  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  we  have  made  the  necessary  change 
in  this  Alaska  resolution,  so  that  it  now  reads,  "Each  particular  creek  and 
its  drainage  area." 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  What  is  your  pleasure  with  the  resolu- 
tion? 

MR.  PENCE:     As  no  one  seems  to  have  expressed  any  interest  in  it, 
why  act  upon  it  at  all?    I  move  that  it  be  indefinitely  postponed. 
The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

MR.  F.  WALLACE  WHITE,  OF  OHIO :  I  beg  that  I  be  extended  the 
privilege  of  taking  the  gavel  in  hand  for  a  few  moments.  I  move  that 
all. members  and  delegates  of  this  Congress  extend  their  heart-felt  thanks 
to  our  President  for  his  good  work  in  behalf  of  this  Cjongress,  by  a  rising 
vote. 

Mr.  Lafe  Pence  seconded  the  motion,  which  was  carried  by  a  unani- 
mous rising  vote. 

Mr.  Josephs,  of  Utah,  then  proposed  three  cheers  for  President  Rich- 
ards, which  were  heartily  given. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  My  friends,  perhaps  it  might  be  appro- 
priate to  sav  one  word  in  reference  to  this  compliment  which  has  been 
extended  to  me.  I  think  every  man  in  an  official  position  in  an  organiza- 
tion like  this  should  be  judged  by  what  he  does  rather  than  by  what  he 
says.  I  recognize  that  he  is  the  greatest  man  who  renders  the  highest 
service  to  his  fellow-men,  and  he  should  be  judged  by  that  service.  I  have 
no  adequate  language  to  express  the  gratitude  that  I  feel  for  the  many 
compliments  that  have  been  extended  to  me,  but  so  far  as  my  services 
to  you  have  merited  that  compliment,  that  is  what  draws  from  me  my 


74  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

feelings  of  gratitude.  Every  man  has  a  right  to  feel  proud  of  any  merit 
he  possesses.  I  have  simply  taken  the  position  I  have  without  any  desire 
to  occupy  it  only  so  far  as  I  may  be  able  to  serve  you.  While  I  appre- 
ciate more  than  I  can  express  the  honor  that  has  been  conferred  upon 
me,  I  also  appreciate  the  expression  which  you  have  given,  that  I  have 
conferred  an  honor  by  my  conduct  upon  this  organization.  The  time  has 
been,  and  is  yet,  when  we  are  seeking  men  to  join  this  organization  be- 
cause we  need  their  help.  The  time  is  coming,  and  is  near  at  hand,  when 
they  will  come  to  this  Congress  and  ask  permission  to  join  it  because 
they  need  its  help.  You  cannot  understand  how  much  I  appreciate  the 
wisdom  that  this  body  exercised  in  the  selection  of  headquarters.  I  ad- 
mire the  state  of  Utah,  and  the -contest  those  gallant  men  made  here; 
but  it  is  my  judgment  after  all  of  this  discussion  that  you  acted  with 
wisdom  in  behalf  of  this  Congress.  I  think  it  will  appeal  to  the  miner  and 
to  the  business  man.  We  appreciate  the  generous  offer  given  by  Salt 
Lake  City,  of  a  lot  and  other  assistance.  That  was  not  what  we  were 
seeking.  Your  Board  of  Directors  did  not  ask  any  one  to  make  any  gift 
to  this  body  in  order  to  secure  its  headquarters.  In  their  love  for  the 
mining  industry  and  the  desire  to  have  you  in  their  midst,  they  did  gener- 
ously make  you  an  offer;  but  we  expect  yet  that  every  miner  who  loves 
his  profession — if  I  may  call  it  that,  and  it  ought  to  be  called  that — will 
be  willing  to  donate  of  his  mite,  and  the  business  man  and  mine  owner 
of  their  plenty,  and  possibly  the  millionaire  of  his  abundance,  to  help 
Tionor  the  mining  industry  with  a  temple  worthy  of  its  magnificence. 
It  does  not  matter  whether  it  takes  one  year  or  ten  to  accomplish  a  great 
result  like  that;  but  when  it  is  done  every  man  connected  with  its  con- 
struction, either  by  donation  or  personal  assistance,  will  feel  that  his 
name  is  honored  by  being  connected  with  it.  This  is  our  aim,  and  it 
has  been  in  my  thought  in  the  sense  suggested  to  you  the  other  day, 
-on  the  theory  of  prayer  and  fasting.  I  had  no  selfish  motive  in  these  mat- 
ters; I  sought  no  distinction;  but  I  am  seeking  to  bring  up  the  mining 
industry  to  the  attention  of  the  people  of  this  country  in  a  manner  that 
is  worthy  of  so  great  an  industry  and  so  great  a  country.  I  have  been 
seeking  to  bring  out  as  sustaining  and  upholding  it,  men  of  that  type 
and  character,  who  stand  as  a  guarantee  to  the  world  that  the  highest 
system  of  business  and  intelligence  shall  be  applied  to  every  detail  of 
its  management.  (Applause.)  If  in  that  effort  I  have  rendered  you  a 
service,  as  your  expression  seems  to  indicate  that  you  think  I  have,  for 
that  I  feel  profoundly  grateful,  and  at  this  time  I  simply  thank  you  for 
that,  and  tender  to  you  whatever  service  in  whatever  rank  I  may, 
whether  in  the  lead  or  in  the  rear,  all  I  possess  of  heart,  brain  and 
energy. 

MR.  DORSE Y,  OF  NEBRASKA:  Mr.  President:  I  move  that  this 
Congress  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  take  charge  in  Congress  of 
the  bill  creating  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining;  and  I  would  suggest 
Senator  John  H.  Mitchell,  of  Oregon,  as  chairman;  Hon.  William  A. 
Sulzer,  of  New  York,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  Hon.  E.  W. 
Martin,  of  South  Dakota. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

Mr.  Daggett,  of  California,  then  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  gen- 
eral subject  of  mining. 

Mr.  Cook,  of  Missouri,  then  addressed  the  Congress  on  -"Mining  in 
Southwest  Missouri." 

Mr.  Cobb,  of  Texas,  was  called  upon,  and  talked  on  El  Paso,  the  next 
convention  city. 

COLONEL  CRAWFORD,  OF  OREGON:  Mr.  President:  Before  we 
adjourn  I  would  like  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  this  Congress  the  fact 
that  we  as  a  body  make  it  plain  to  the  practical,  hard-fisted  miners  that 
they  are  one  of  us,  and  that  we  hope  they  will  join  us.  We  want  practi- 
cal miners  to  be  with  us  in  our  deliberations,  and  we  desire  to  extend  to 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  75 

those  men  who,  from  the  bowels  of  mother  earth,  extract  the  riches  for 
the  wealthiest  men  in  our  land,  an  invitation  to  participate  in  our  meet- 
ings. 

MR.  DIGNOWITY,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA:  At  our  last  meeting  in 
South  Dakota  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  this  Congress  to  the  effect 
that  it  go  in  a  special  car,  upon  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Holmes,  Manager  in 
Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Minerals  at  the  St.  Louis  Exposition,  to  attend  that 
exposition  in  a  body.  I  would  like  to  inquire  what  has  become  of  that 
resolution. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  The  Secretary  will  answer;  he  was  pres- 
ent at  that  time. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:  Thene  was  a  resolution  passed  at  the  last 
xses.sion  of  the  American  Congress  at  Dead  wood,  South  Dakota,  advising 
the  President  of  the  Congress  to  appoint  a  committee  of  twenty  to  attend 
the  St.  Louis  Exposition.  Of  that  committee  the  President  and  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  Congress  at  that  time  were  requested  to  be  members. 

MR.  JOSEPHS,  OF  UTAH:  Mr.  President:  It  seems  to  me  we  have 
•overlooked  one  very  important  personage  here  in  our  bouquet  throwing. 
I  think  we  have  forgotten  the  Secretary.  I  move  that  the  thanks  of  The 
American  Mining  Congress  here  assembled  be  tendered  to  the  efficient 
Secretary,  Colonel  Mahon,  for  his  diligent  efforts  and  zeal  in  behalf  of 
the  success  of  this  Congress,  and  the  uniform  courtesy  he  has  displayed 
towards  the  delegates  and  members. 

MR.  DAGGETT:  I  desire  to  offer  an  amendment  including  the  Sec- 
retary's lady  stenographers. 

Texas  seconds  the  amendment  as  well  as  the  original  motion. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  I  want  to  make  a  statement,  as  a  matter 
of  justice  to  a  man  with  whom  I  have  been  more  intimately  connected 
probably  than  any  man  in  this  Congress  to-day.  A  more  tender-hearted, 
truer  man,  so  far  as  his  understanding  goes,  I  have  never  known.  Our 
correspondence  has  been  of  the  most  intimate  character;  it  has  been  as 
beautiful  as  the  correspondence  between  a  mother  and  her  child.  I  know 
the  motive  that  actuates  the  heart  of  that  man  in  reference  to  the  Min- 
ing Congress.  I  am  making  this  statement  in  justice  to  the  character  of 
a  man  that  to  some  extent  has  been  assailed;  statements  have  come  to 
my  ears  directly  reflecting  upon  his  character.  I  want  to  say  to  you  that 
that  was  a  misunderstanding;  it  simply  had  reference  to  business  methods 
and  not  to  his  good  heart.  I  ask  you  not  to  amend  that  motion,  but  let 
that  motion  be  a  special  honor  to  the  man  who  has  honored  this  institu- 
tion so  long. 

MR.  DAGGETT:  I  withdraw  my  amendment  with  the  consent  of 
my  second. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  In  making  that  statement  I  do  not  want 
to  detract  from  these  young  ladies,  whose  services  have  been  of  the  high- 
est quality.  Give  them  a  special  and  distinctive  honor;  but  this  motion 
means  something  to  the  Congress.  Mr.  Mahon  has  been  with  it  ever 
since  it  dawned,  and  from  him  have  I  gathered  whatever  inspiration  I 
have  given  to  this  organization.  All  in  favor  of  that  motion  signify 
the  same  by  rising. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  by  a  rising  vote,  and  three 
cheers  were  proposed  by  Mr.  Josephs  for  Mr.  Mahon,  which  were  en- 
thusiastically given.  Mr.  Mahon  was  loudly  called. 

SECRETARY  MAHON:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I 
liardly  know  how  to  thank  you  for  this  evidence  of  your  appreciation  of 
my  labors.  I  have  been  with  this  Congress  from  the  very  hour  of  its 


7G  OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

birth.  I  tried  to  do  my  duty  honestly  and  honorably.  I  have  never  asked 
one  farthing  for  my  services.  After  the  reorganization  at  Butte  our  Board 
of  Directors  saw  proper  to  consider  the  question  of  compensation.  What 
compensation  I  have  received  you  are  all  now  aware  of.  With  it  I  am 
entirely  satisfied,  and  I  retire  as  Secretary  of  this  Congress  hoping  that 
I  may  carry  away  with  me  your  best  and  kindest  wishes.  That  is  all  the 
consideration  I  ask  at  your  hands,  and  if  I  receive  it,  it  is  more  than  I 
deserve. 

I  thank  you  also  for  your  consideration  for  my  stenographers.  They 
have  been  most  faithful,  working  early  and  late  for  almost  six  months, 
and  I  was  glad  to  hear  them  mentioned  before  this  Congress,  and  I  trust 
you  will  see  proper  to  recognize  them  by  a  special  resolution.  Gentle- 
men, I  thank  you. 

MR,  DAGGETT,  OF  CALIFORNIA:  Mr.  President,  I  now  renew  my 
motion  that  the  lady  stenographers  be  given  a  vote  of  thanks  by  this 
convention. 

The  motion  was  carried. 

MR.  COOK,  OF  MISSOURI:  I  think  a  vote  of  thanks  .should  be  given 
to  the  Program  Committee,  including  Mr.  Patterson,  chairman  of  that 
committee,  and  I  make  that  motion. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

MR.  STEELE,  OF  ALASKA:  Mr.  President:  I  want  to  thank  this 
Congress  for  what  it  has  done  for  Alaska.  Alaska  is  all  that  you  have 
been  told  about  all  other  localities  put  together;  Alaska  is  everything, 
even  an  orphan;  but  we  feel  less  outcast  now  that  The  American  Mining 
Congress  has  adopted  that  orphan.  We  feel  that  its  action  will  give  us 
what  we  have  so  long  desired.  We  feel  that  the  next  session  of  Congress 
of  the  United  States  will  grant  us  a  delegate,  and  that  we  shall  no  longer 
be  taxed  without  representation.  We  shall  be  with  you  at  El  Paso  next 
year,  for  Alaska  will  henceforth  be  a  factor  in  this  Congress. 

(Applause.) 

Mr.  H.  S.  Clark,  of  Montana,  read  a  few  words  expressive  of  his 
satisfaction  in  the  success  of  this  session  of  the  Congress,  and  of  its  en- 
tertainment in  the  Rose  City,  which  met  with  laughter  and  applause. 

Colonel  Ewing,  of  California,  moved  that  the  Congress  adjourn 
sine  die. 

MR.  LAFE  PENCE:  Mr.  President:  If  I  may  be  permitted,  so  that 
we  may  know  that  donations  have  begun,  I  desire  to  state  that  Mrs.  Mary 
K.  Brittain,  of  The  Dalles,  Oregon,  begs  to  say  to  the  officers  that  it  is  her 
desire  to  donate  to  the  new  building  in  Denver  an  elaborately  decorated 
cathedral  window. 

MR.  F.  WALLACE  WHITE,  OF  OHIO:  Mr.  President:  May  I  have 
the  privilege  and  honor  of  subscribing  for  myself  $1,000  towards  that 
mining  temple. 

PRESIDENT  RICHARDS:  Rev.  Father  McDevitt  desires  to  make  a 
statement  just  before  we  adjourn. 

REV.  FATHER  McDEVITT:  Mr.  President  and  Members  of  The 
American  Mining  Congress:  I  wish  to  express  to  this  body  my  sincere 
gratitude  for  the  honor  that  was  conferred  upon  me  in  opening  this  noble 
meeting  with  prayer.  I  wish  it  understood,  if  you  please,  that  I  was  only 
acting  as  a  substitute  for  our  beloved  Archbishop  Christie,  who  is  now  in 
ill  health  and  unable  to  attend  in  person. 

Now,  gentlemen,  before  you  depart  from  our  beautiful  city,  I  wish  to 
have  distributed  among  you  some  specimens  which  I  would  like  to  have 
yx>u  examine,  to  determine,  if  possible,  whether  they  are  fossils  or  ore. 
They  will  be  left  to  your  own  good  judgment.  Some  of  you,  no  doubt, 
are  familiar  with  these  specimens,  but  some  may  not  be.  Perhaps  you 


AMERICAN    MINING    CONGRESS.  77 

have  not  seen  our  hospitals  as  yet,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  after  having 
inspected  these  properly,  you  may  feel  a  desire  to  go  to  some  hospital. 
(Laughter.)  I  wish  to  present  these  cigars  to  you  this  morning  in  the 
hope  that  you  will  do  all  your  smoking  in  this  world,  and  not  have  to 
do  any  in  the  next  (laughter  and  applause),  and  that  your  prayers  may 
be  somewhat  like  the  good  old  darkey's  just  a  short  time  before  Thanks- 
giving. Said  he,  "I  prayed  all  the  week  that  the  Lord  would  send  me  a 
turkey,  but  I  never  got  a  turkey.  Then  I  thought  there  must  be  some- 
thing wrong  about  my  prayers;  so  I  turned  around  and  I  prayed  the  other 
way;  I  prayed  the  Lord  to  send  me  after  a  turkey,  and  I  had  him  in  an 
hour."  (Laughter.)  I  hope  you  will  not  think  me  in  any  degree  irrever- 
ent if  I  tell  you  another  story  before  we  part.  (Laughter.)  Another  poor 
old  darkey  down  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  some  years  ago,  when 
they  had  a  tremendous  earthquake  and  everybody  was  trembling  with  fear 
lest  the  last  hour  had  come,  rushed  into  the  streets,  threw  himself  on 
his.  knees  and  raised  his  hands  to  heaven  and  says,  "Oh  Lord,  God  Al- 
mighty, Heavenly  Father,  come  down  and  save  us  poor  sinners  or  we'll 
all  perish.  Now,  please  don't  send  down  your  son;  this  is  no  child's  play." 
(Laughter.) 

My  dear  friends,  in  the  beginning  we  asked  the  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Ghost  to  bless  you;  so  if  you  will  kindly  accept  these  from  me  I 
will  leave  them  in  charge  of  your  Secretary  to  distribute  among  you  with 
a  heart  full  of  gratitude  in  the  name  of  the  Archbishop.  God  bless  you. 

Whereupon,  the  motion  to  adjourn  sine  die  having  been  duly  seconded, 
was  carried,  and  the  Congress  adjourned. 


PROCEEDINGS 

of  the 

Seventh  Annual  Session 

of  the 

American  Mining 
Congress 

PART  II. 

CONTAINING  THE  PAPERS  OF  1904 

PORTLAND,   OREGON 

AUGUST  22  to  27, 

INCLUSIVE 


Published  by  the  Congress 

At  the  Office  'of  the  Secretary 

Denver,  Colorado, 

1905 


COPYRIGHT,  1905, 

BY  THE 

AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 
DENVER,  COLORADO. 


Western    Newspaper    Union, 
Printers,  Denver. 


INDEX  TO  PAPERS  OF  1904 


Annual  Address  of  the  President,  by  Hon.  J.  H.  Richards 7 

The  Relation  of  Mining  to  the  World's  General  Advancement,  by  H.  W. 

Scott  17 

The  Public  Land  Commission,  by  F.  H.  Newell  and  Gifford  Pinchot 28 

Address  by  T.  A.  Rickard 35 

Idaho  and  Thunder  Mountain,  by  A.  E.  Borthwick 38 

Address  by  Ellis  H.  Roberts 46 

The  Influence  of  Mining  Men  for  Better  Roads,  by  James  W.  Abbott. . .  47 
The  Promoter  and  His  Place  in  Our  Development,  by  E.  Benjamin 

Andrews  54 

The  Investor  in  Mines,  by  F.  Wallace  White 69 

Concentration  of  Copper  Ores  in  the  Southwest,  by  Frank  H.  Probert. .  80 

The  Ryan  Electro-Magnetic  Concentrator,  by  John  H.  Ryan 110 

Geology  and  Mineral  Resources  of  Wyoming,  by  Henry  C.  Beeler 113 

Mineral  Resources  and  Mining  in  Oregon,  by  Frank  V.  Drake 119 

Mineral  Resources  of  South  Carolina,  by  Earl  Sloan 129 

Mineral  Resources  of  Vermont,  by  G.  H.  Perkins. . . .- 161 

The  Evolution  of  Mining  in  California,  by  John  Daggett 172; 

The  Mining  Industries  of  California,  by  The  State  Mining  Bureau 177 

The  Geology  and  Mineral  Resources  of  Idaho,  by  Robert  N.  Bell 200= 

The  Mineral  Resources  of  Maine,  by  Leslie  A.  Lee 227 


OFFICERS  FOR  THE  YEAR  1905 


PRESIDENT. 
.1.  H.  Richards. 

VICE   PRESIDENTS. 

Thomas  Ewing.  E.  R.  Buckley. 

A.  W.  Gifford. 

DIRECTORS. 

J.  H.  Richards,  Boise,  Idaho. 

Thomas  Ewing,  San  Francisco,  California. 

E.  R.  Buckley,  Rollo,  Misouri. 

A.  W.  Gifford,  El  Paso,  Texas. 

J.  Frank  Watson,  Portland,  Oregon. 

Geo.  W.  E.  Dorsey,  Fremont,  Nebraska. 

Jos.  T.  Cornforth,  Seattle,  Washington. 

John  Dern,  Salt  Lage  City,  Utah. 

William     Lennox,     Colorado     Springs,  Colorado. 

SECRETARY. 
Jas.  F.  Callbreath,    Jr.,    Denver,  Colorado. 


Annual  Address  of  the  President. 

BY  HON.  J.  H.  RICHARDS,  BOISE,  IDAHO. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Congress:  It  gives  me  great  pleasure 
to  meet  you  again  on  this  occasion  of  your  annual  session, 
and  to  say  a  few  words  of  greeting  to  you  before  you  enter 
upon  your  deliberations  and  proceed  to  take  such  action  a  4 
may  seem  to  you  most  appropriate  for  advancing  the  aims 
and  purposes  of  our  organization. 

It  was  thought  by  your  Executive  Committee  that  it 
would  be  fitting  to  make  a  few  suggestions  at  this  time  for 
jour  consideration,  in  relation  to  a  few  of  the  aims  and  pur- 
poses of  this  Congress. 

What  are  those  aims  and  purposes?  I  need  make  no 
apology  for  refreshing  your  recollection  by  quoting  from  the 
charter  of  our  corporate  existence,  because,  whenever  I  read 
those  words,  they  give  me  a  new  inspiration  for  our  work, 
as  well  as  an  authoritative  revelation  of  our  opportunity. 

"To  advance  the  mining  and  metallurgical  industries 
in  all  their  various  branches  within  the  United  States;  to 
assist  in  bringing  about  a  more  perfect  co-operation 
between  the  government  of  the  United  States  and  the  devel- 
opment of  mining  and  metallurgy;  to  encourage  education 
in  practical  and  scientific  mining,  metallurgy  and 
their  allied  industries;  to  acquire  and  disseminate 
trustworthy  information  bearing  upon  the  development 
of  the  metallic  and  nonmetallic  mining  resources 
of  the  United  States;  to  promote  a  more  co-operative  ten- 
dency in  the  evolution  of  agriculture,  mining,  manufactur- 
ing, transportation  and  commerce,  and  for  the  particular 
purpose  of  bringing  the  mining  men  of  the  United  States 
into  closer  relations  with  one  another,  and  of  promoting  a 
friendly  feeling,  for  one  another  through  social  intercourse 
and  the  discussion  of  mutual  interests." 

Therefore,  if  assisting  in  advancing  the  mining  industry 
to  a  position  commensurate  with  its  importance;  if  aiding 


8  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN    MINING   CONGRESS. 

in  bringing  about  a  more  perfect  co-operation  between  the 
government  of  the  United  States  and  the  development  of 
mining;  if  encouraging  the  application  of  scientific  methods 
to  all  departments  of  mining;  if  promoting  a  more  co-opera- 
tive tendency  in  the  harmonious  evolution  of  agriculture, 
mining,  manufacturing,  transportation  and  commerce;  if 
bringing  representative  mining  men  together  for  their 
mutual  benefit,  are  worthy  aims,  and  this  Congress  can 
materially  aid  in  accomplishing  these  purposes,  then  it  has 
a  rightful  place  among  the  active  agencies  of  American 
effort,  and  can,  if  intelligently  utilized,  bring  richer  oppor- 
tunities to  greater  numbers  of  individuals,  as  well  as  insure 
more  stability  in  industrial  tendencies,  and  through  these 
achievements  confer  lasting  honor  and  advantage  upon  our 
National  Commonwealth. 

Mining  Congress  No  Accident. 

The  existence  of  the  -American  Mining  Congress  is  not 
a  result  of  accident.  Its  existence,  aims  and  work  are 
intended  to  express  the  necessity  for  a  broader  co-operation, 
based  on  a  closer  unity  of  general  purpose,  and  to  aid  in 
bringing  about  such  changes  in  method  as  will  give  a  more 
beneficial  direction  to  present  industrial  tendencies. 

These  tendencies  are  at  bottom  co-operative,  and  there- 
fore healthful.  The  great  combinations,  both  of  capital  and 
labor,  are  simply  manifestations  of  the  development  of  a 
great  principle,  which  must  be  controlled  and  directed  so 
as  to  accomplish  the  greatest  good  for  the  greatest  number. 
The  abuses  of  this  principle  of  co-operation,  whether  such 
abuses  appear  in  the  form  of  rapacious  trusts  or  lawless 
unions,  simply  present  conclusive  evidence  of  weakness  in 
our  present  industrial  and  financial  methods.  We  cannot 
afford  to  allow  predatory  promoters  to  rob  the  people  of 
millions  by  the  issue  of  watered  stock  on  consolidated 
industrial  plants,  nor  can  we  tolerate  a  state  of  civil  war 
between  mammoth  aggregations  of  capital  and  labor.  The 
common  people,  who  are  non-combatants  in  these  conflicts, 
also  have  rights  which  can  and  must  be  maintained. 

But,  notwithstanding  all  these  abuses,  the  tendency 
to  combine  marches  steadily  on,  and  it  would  be  just  as 


ANNUAL  ADDRESS  OF  THE  PRESIDENT.  9 

sensible  to  talk  of  damming  the  Mississippi  river  to  get  rid 
of  the  floods,  as  to  advocate  reversing  these  wheels  of 
progress  and  restoring  the  conditions  of  the  past.  The  ten- 
dency may  and  must  be  guided,  it  must  be  restrained,  it 
must  be  kept  in  proper  channels,  and  it  must  be  inspired 
with  justice.  Then,  finally,  it  will  be  seen  to  be  what  I 
have  called  it — a  co-operative  tendency,  by  which  all  should 
benefit,  inasmuch  as  it  is  better  to  work  together  than  to 
work  apart,  better  to  work  in  harmony  than  to  work  in 
strife. 

I  say,  therefore,  that  if  a  wiser  direction  were  given  to 
these  tendencies,  greater  opportunities  for  individual  and 
local  growth  would  arise,  investments  in  our  vast  indus- 
trial ventures  would  be  safer  and  more  pemanent,  the  dan- 
gers and  losses  from  financial  and  industrial  panics  would 
be  minimized,  the  employment  of  labor  would  become  more 
regular,  and  the  remuneration  of  both  labor  and  capital 
more  certain.  In  other  words,  a  more  general  unity  of 
purpose  in  these  tendencies  would  result.  As  mining 
largely  finds  a  market  for  its  product  through  our  industrial 
and  transportation  development,  if  that  market  were  less 
fluctuating  on  account  of  alternating  periods  of  depression, 
the  mining  industry  also  would  present  a  more  attractive 
field  for  legitimate  investment,  and  be  to  a  less  extent  the 
sport  of  a  merely  speculative  activity. 

Now,  since  these  defects  in  our  present  business  ten- 
dencies exist,  there  must  necessarily  be  ways  and  means  of 
bringing  about  more  satisfactory  conditions.  Can  the 
American  Mining  Congress  be  made  a  useful  and  potent 
factor  in  American  effort  to  most  successfully  reap  the 
fruit  of  American  opportunity?  We  say  that  it  can. 

Government  Aid  Needed. 

In  the  first  place  we  want  to  enlist  the  active  powers  of 
the  National  Government  more  fully  in  this  work  of  striv- 
ing for  better  industrial  conditions.  We  have  seen  what 
our  Government  has  already  done  in  the  way  of  directing 
its  activities  into  channels  which  are  wholly  non-political, 
as  that  term  is  generally  used,  but  which  have  a  most  vital 


10  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

connection  with  the  economic  welfare  of  the  people.  We 
have  seen  how  our  Government  has  beneficially  molded  the 
process  of  settlement  of  the  people's  heritage,  our  vast  pub- 
lic domain,  by  the  institution  of  the  Interior  Department 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  We  have  seen  its  be- 
nign and  directing  influence  upon  agriculture  through  the 
creation  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  a  comparatively 
few  years  ago.  We  have  seen  the  effective  work  already 
accomplished  by  the  new  Department  of  Commerce  and  La- 
bor during  the  few  brief  months  of  its  existence.  The  suc- 
cessive establishment  of  these  industrial  departments  of 
our  Government  at  different  stages  of  the  economic  devel- 
opment of  the  United  States  is  most  significant.  The  peo- 
ple need  these  industrial  departments;  they  need  this  active 
and  intelligent  co-operation  of  their  Government  in  matters 
which  are  vital  to  their  happiness  and  prosperity. 

So  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  conviction  with 
many  that  the  Government  which  meets  the  fullest  measure 
of  its  responsibility  to  the  citizen  is  the  one  which  most 
wisely  aids  in  directing  the  industrial  upbuilding  of  its  peo- 
ple, not  in  a  paternal  sense,  but  in  a  co-operative  sense,  and 
to  the  end  that  there  may  be  more  unity  of  purpose  in  work- 
ing out  methods  that  will  assure  the  greatest  possible  sta- 
bility to  the  investment  of  capital  and  the  employment  of 
labor,  while  preserving  the  independence  and  individual 
opportunity  of  the  average  man. 

We  stand  at  the  portals  of  glorious  possibilities.  Our 
country,  by  reason  of  the  mechanical  genius  of  our  Avork- 
men,  the  executive  ability  of  our  captains  of  industry,  and 
the  almost  unlimited  abundance  of  cheap  raw  material, 
rather  than  by  reason  of  any  marked  co-operation  on  the 
part  of  our  Government  in  the  past,  has  taken  a  leading 
position  among  the  great  industrial  nations.  Our  govern- 
mental theory  has  been — equal  rights,  equal  duties,  and 
equal  laws;  then  let  the  man  do  the  rest.  But  conditions 
are  changing.  The  rivalry  of  nations  is  becoming  conspicu- 
ously an  industrial  rivalry.  International  competition  is 
to-day  more  intense  than  ever  before,  because  the  nations  of 
the  earth  are  brought  so  much  closer  together  by  modern 


ANNUAL  ADDRESS  OF  THE  PRESIDENT.          11 

facilities  of  communication.  Careful  observers  are  warning 
us  that  the  highly  perfected  bureaucratic  organizations  of 
European  governments  are  being  more  and  more  utilized 
in  fields  of  industrial  activity.  That  nation  which  is  pow- 
erful industrially  can  always  buy  guns  and  ships,  employ 
big  armies  to  win  its  battles,  and  easily  float  loans  to  pay 
for  them.  We  found  that  out  in  our  own  Civil  War.  But 
if  you  have  no  powerful  and  organized  reserve  of  national 
resource  back  of  your  military  display,  your  army  and  navy 
are  liable  to  collapse  like  a  house  of  cards  when  the  hour  of 
crucial  strain  arrives.  And  so  we  say  that  the  United 
States  must  be  better  prepared  than  ever  before  to  meet  the 
influences  of  these  mighty  governmental  organizations  in 
seeking  the  trade  of  the  world.  How  shall  it  do  this?  Sim- 
ply by  more  effectively  directing  the  industrial  energies  of 
its  people,  by  opening  new  avenues  for  industrial  enter- 
prises, and  by  making  it  possible  to  secure  better  results  in 
the  old. 

We  have  already,  as  I  have  intimated,  made  creditable 
progress  in  that  direction.  If  the  Agricultural  Department 
of  our  Government  has  broadened  the  markets  for  farm 
products  in  all  parts  of  the  world  by  systematic  efforts;  if 
it  has  diffused  much-needed  scientific  information  concern- 
ing crops,  soils  and  tillage;  if  it  has  effectively  assisted  the 
cultivator  in  overcoming  the  pests  that  endanger  his  crops; 
if  it  has  helped  to  make  agriculture  more  like  a  business 
calling  by  securing  results  which  are  more  calculable  and 
rewards  which  are  more  certain;  if  it  has  thereby  invested 
agriculture  with  a  new  dignity  and  brought  a  greater  meas- 
ure of  comfort  and  prosperity  to  the  producers  of  agricul- 
tural products,  then  to  that  extent  our  Government  has  met 
the  fuller  measure  of  its  responsibility,  due  to  changing 
economic  conditions,  by  the  establishment  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  at  Washington. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  we  inquire  what  governmental 
co-operation  can  do  for  the  great  primary  industry  of  min- 
ing, you  will  find  a  singular  parallelism  with  what  it  has  so 
effectively  done  for  the  great  primary  industry  of  agricul- 
ture. Why?  Because  both  these  industries  are  producers 


12  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

of  raw  material;  because,  taken  together,  they  supply  nearly 
all  the  raw  material  used  in  our  arts  and  manufactures, 
and  therefore  any  discrimination  against  either  must  react 
upon  all  the  industries  and  occupations  wrhich  are  depend- 
ent upon  it.  This  is  why  we  contend  that  the  reason  and 
justification  for  governmental  co-operation  in  the  one  case 
is  practically  the  same  as  in  the  other. 

Favors  Department  of  Mines. 

We  therefore  affirm  that  if  a  Department  of  Mines  and 
Mining  could  broaden  the  markets  for  the  products  of  our 
mines  by  intelligent  investigation  and  official  action;  if  it 
could  diffuse  among  prospectors  and  miners  in  practical 
form  the  scientific  information  which  would  be  so  useful 
to  them;  if  it  could  afford  them  cheap  and  perfectly  reliable 
facilities  for  classifying  and  assaying  the  infinite  variety 
of  ores  found  in  our  extensive  mineral  districts;  if  through 
a  revised,  simplified  and  uniform  system  of  mining  laws  and 
a  judicious  control  of  mining  corporations  in  the  interests 
of  the  working  miner,  the  investor  and  the  general  public, 
it  could  lessen  that  element  of  friction  and  speculation 
which  to-day  in  the  opinion  of  so  many  condemns  mining 
both  as  an  occupation  and  an  investment — if  through  such 
a  department  such  results  could  be  accomplished,  then  it 
must  be  apparent  to  all  that  such  accomplishment  would 
create  a  new  atmosphere  and  a  new  hope,  not  only  through- 
out the  mining  world,  but  that  the  salutary  effects  wrould 
react  in  the  commercial  and  industrial  world,  and  that  every 
railroad  office,  every  bank,  every  factory  and  every  farm 
would  feel  the  stimulus  and  reap  the  benefit. 

In  all  the  objections  which  I  have  ever  heard  or  read 
against  a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining,  I  have  never 
been  able  to  discover  even  an  attempt  to  answer  this  query: 
Why  has  not  the  prospector,  the  miner  and  the  investor  in 
mines  just  as  good  a  right  to  governmental  co-operation  as 
the  farmer,  the  horticulturist  and  the  investor  in  farm  mort- 
gages? We  contend  that  mining,  as  a  leading  department 
of  primary  production,  is  just  as  essential  to  civilization  as 
agriculture.  The  wheels  of  industry  could  not  make  a  sin- 


ANNUAL  ADDRESS  OF  THE  PRESIDENT.          13 

gle  revolution  without  the  products  of  the  mine.  But  we 
are  not  asking  our  Government  to  assume  the  paternal  or 
patronizing  attitude  towards  the  mining  industry.  We  are 
not  teasing  it  to  make  us  any  presents,  but  we  are  asking 
it  to  w^ork  with  us.  In  this  country  the  Government  is  the 
people,  and  the  people  are  the  Government;  it  is  of  them  and 
for  them.  That  is  the  doctrine  when  reduced  to  its  lowest 
terms,  and  it  is  the  only  theory  upon  which  I  am  making 
these  remarks.  But  conditions  change,  and  human  effort 
and  agencies  must  change  with  them.  "New  occasions 
make  new  duties"  is  as  true  of  governments  as  of  men.  We 
want  to  preserve  the  individuality  of  the  American  citizen, 
we  want  to  preserve  the  better  opening,  the  better  chance 
in  life  which  has  been  characteristic  of  this  country  in  the 
past.  To  that  end  we  must  have  governmental  agencies 
that  recognize  the  changed  conditions  and  are  equipped  to 
meet  them — governmental  agencies  which  apply  the  co-op- 
erative principle  in  dealing  with  the 'citizens  by  whom  they 
are  maintained. 

Mining  Industry  Would  Profit. 

The  Interior  Department,  by  the  aid  of  wise  laws,  is 
approaching  the  end  of  its  mission,  so  far  as  the  equitable 
distribution  of  our  public  domain  is  concerned;  it  has  done 
that  work  well;  it  has  made  homes  for  a  new  sisterhood  of 
states;  it  has  kept  open  a  resource  of  independent  liveli- 
hood for  the  poor  man.  The  Department  of  Agriculture 
has  supplemented  its  efforts,  has  enhanced  the  value  of  our 
agricultural  products  by  untold  millions,  and  has  found  a 
permanent  place  in  our  governmental  activity.  A  Depart- 
ment of  Mines  and  Mining  must  logically  follow.  The  min- 
ing industry  could  then  speak  through  this  Congress  in  its 
endeavor  to  co-operate  with  the  Government  in  making  the 
mining  industry  one  of  the  strongest  bulwarks  of  our  indus- 
trial fortress.  This  great  primary  industry  of  mining  must 
also  feel  the  uplift  of  the  co-operative  tendency  of  the  age. 

Recognizing  the  great  service  our  Government  has 
heretofore  rendered  the  mining  industry,  especially  through 
the  wTork  of  that  branch  of  the  public  service  known  as  the 


14  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

United  States  Geological  Survey,  we  still  feel  sure  that 
much  more  efficient  service  would  result  through  such  a  de- 
partment, and  at  the  same  time  afford  the  Geological  Sur- 
vey, splendid  as  its  services  have  been  in  the  past,  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  one  branch  of  its  work  more  definite,  exten- 
sive and  permanent.  Its  reports  would  thereby  become 
much  more  authoritative  and  attractive.  The  commercial 
value  of  such  reports  as  pertain  to  mining  would  be  greatly 
enhanced.  The  work  of  the  Geological  Survey  would  be 
more  highly  recognized,  and  its  influence  would  be  immeas- 
urably extended  through  such  a  department.  The  system- 
atic and  scientific  development  of  the  great  mineral  sections 
of  our  country  are  second  only  in  importance  to  our  agricul- 
tural section,  each,  however,  stimulating  the  other,  and  a 
very  large  part  of  the  effective  work  of  this  development 
as  well  as  its  encouragement,  must  necessarily  rest  with  the 
Geological  Survey.  It  therefore  becomes  apparent  what  a 
directing  influence  over  such  a  department  the  Geological 
Survey  would  possess.  And  it  would  give  a  much  more  di- 
rect, positive  and  influential  character  to  this  branch  of  our 
public  service,  and  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  mining 
industry  at  large.  Too  much  importance  can  not  be  attached 
to  the  influence  such  a  department  would  have,  in  enlarg- 
ing the  scope,  making  at  least  one  branch  of  the  work  more 
valuable,  and  enlarging  the  influence  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  and  every  man  connected  with  this 
branch  of  our  public  service  should  rejoice  in  the  hope  that 
a  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining  will  be  early  estab- 
lished. 

If  there  are  substantial  reasons  for  the  institution  of 
such  a  department,  then  a  general  demand  therefor  should 
be  made,  and  it  should  be  based  on  arguments  clear  enough, 
expressed  in  terms  strong  enough,  to  be  heard  at  Washing- 
ton. 

Permanent  Home  Advocated. 

But  if  the  American  Mining  Congress  is  to  be  what  its 
purposes  and  opportunity  justify,  it  must  rest  on  a  higher 
and  more  permanent  business  basis  than  heretofore.  The 
^blessings  which  have  resulted  from  its  labors  are  many,  but 


ANNUAL  ADDRESS  OF  THE  PRESIDENT.          15* 

it  still  lacks  that  inherent  force  which  commands  the  high- 
est respect  and  attention.  If  it  is  to  successfully  meet  the 
challenge  of  its  opportunity,  it  must  be  placed  on  a  thor- 
oughly business  basis,  both  as  regards  finances  and  as  re- 
gards management,  such  as  will  assure  it  the  approval  of 
the  best  business  thought  of  the  day.  There  must  be  added 
unto  it  that  element  of  permanency  as  an  institution  which 
begets  pride  in  and  respect  for  what  it  represents.  It  must 
be  so  impressed  with  the  elements  of  successful  effort,  sta- 
bility, influence,  and  power  to  serve,  that  it  will  be  both 
feared  and  respected.  It  must  rest  on  a  financial  foundation 
which  will  obviate  the  necessity  of  asking  for  charity  in  or- 
der to  perform  its  functions.  Permanent  headquarters 
must  be  established,  suitably  equipped  to  carry  on  the  work 
of  the  Congress  between  sessions,  and  this  will  be  one  of  the 
most  important  questions  for  you  to  consider  at  this  meet- 
ing. As  an  incident  to  permanent  headquarters,  employes 
must  be  chosen  who  are  competent  to  do  this  work,  and  ade- 
quate compensation  must  be  provided  for  them.  One  of  the 
features  of  a  permanent  home,  which  alone  will  justify  its 
establishment,  should  be  a  mineral  collection.  I  do  not 
mean  an  ordinary  mineral  collection,  but  such  a  collection 
as  our  organization  ought  to  acquire,  and  which  its  mem- 
bers are  in  a  position  to  acquire,  by  a  little  personal  effort 
at  a  minimum  expense;  that  is  to  say,  the  finest  and  most 
practical  working  collection  of  minerals  in  the  world.  Thi& 
collection  would  be  classified  and  properly  cared  for  at  the 
permanent  home,  and  constantly  augmented.  The  Ameri- 
can Mining  Congress  should  possess  the  National  mineral 
collection  par  excellence,  one  worthy  in  every  way  of  the 
great  mining  industry  of  America. 

But  that,  of  course,  is  only  one  of  the  many  practical 
objects  which  may  be  kept  in  view  during  your  considera- 
tion of  this  matter. 

I*  suggest  these  things,  well  knowing  that  their  con- 
summation must  be  the  mature  fruition  of  many  sessions  of 
this  Congress,  but  at  the  same  time  with  the  desire  that  we 
may  have  these  ideals  in  our  thoughts  as  members  of  thi& 


16  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

organization,  and  work  steadily  towards  their  gradual  ful- 
fillment. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen  of  the  Congress,  I  take  this 
opportunity  to  gratefully  acknowledge  my  appreciation  of 
the  trust  you  have  reposed  in  my  keeping  during  the  two 
years  last  past.  I  assure  you  that  I  deeply  feel  and  shall 
always  remember  the  cordial  support  and  generous  consid- 
eration which  you  have  uniformly  shown  me,  and  sincerely 
hope  that  my  efforts  to  strengthen  and  perpetuate  the 
American  Mining  Congress  may  in  some  small  measure  jus- 
tify the  honor  you  have  conferred. 


The  Relation  of  Mining  to  the  World's  General  Advancement, 

BY  MR.    H.   W.   SCOTT   OP    PORTLAND,    OREGON. 

From  one  whose  vocation  it  has  been  to  observe,  com- 
ment upon  and  record  daily  for  many  years  the  important 
events  and  progress  of  a  state  in  detail  and  of  a  nation  gen- 
erally, and  of  the  world  in  its  relation  to  such  state  and  na- 
tion, little  can  be  expected  in  the  form  of  minutia  or  par- 
ticulars in  an  address  necessarily  brief  and  general  in  char- 
acter. 

Such  vocation  compels  definite  and  more  or  less  intel- 
ligent observation  and,  irresistibly,  naturally,  if  you  please, 
leads  the  observer  to  conclusions  as  to  causes  for  recent 
industrial  and  commercial  achievements  and  present  condi- 
tions in  our  National  life;  and,  as  well,  to  encourage  the 
habit  of  looking  ahead. 

Beginning  before  the  birth  of  the  state  of  Oregon,  in  a 
territory  which  now  embraces  all  of  three  states  and  parts 
each  of  two  others,  myself  a  youth,  local  events  linked  in 
varying  degree  with  those  of  the  Nation  and  of  the  world 
have  passed  into  history  in  unbroken  procession,  constantly, 
unavoidably,  demanding  my  closest  attention  and  observa- 
tion. 

Industrial  progress  during  this  period  has  been  so  con- 
stantly accelerating,  so  intensified  in  purpose,  so  successful 
in  attainment  of  ends  that  seemed  but  yesterday  impossible, 
that  a  retrospect  presents  a  record  of  miracles:  Of  deserts 
abloom,  mountains  removed,  seas  bridged,  time  out- 
speeded,  distance  a  day's  journey! 

My  experience  as  a  "practical  miner"  was  limited  to  a 
single  year,  in  my  youthful  days,  in  the  auriferous  gravels 
of  the  then  famous  and  still  noted  Boise  Basin.  The  work 
consisted  of  wrhipsawing  logs  into  boards,  constructing 
therefrom  flumes  and  sluice  boxes,  digging  ditches,  shovel- 
ing soil  and  gravel  into  the  waters  running  through  the 
sluices,  cleaning  up  the  riffles,  squeezing  surplus  quicksilver 


18  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 

from  amalgam  in  a  buckskin  sack,  and  retorting  the  remain- 
ing amalgam  for  the  captured  gold. 

It  was  truly  strenuous  labor;  and  it  was  interesting  in 
that  all  operations  called  for  the  exercise  of  intelligence, 
on  the  part  of  the  workers.  There  were  no  experts,  nor  ex- 
perienced old  miners,  nor  teachers  in  those  days.  Discus- 
sions were  had  and  estimates  made  on  each  branch  of  the 
work  as  it  progressed,  such  as  length  of  the  boxes,  grades 
for  and  sizes  of  the  ditches,  "pitch"  of  the  sluices,  adjust- 
ment and  variation  of  riffles,  disposal  of  tailings,  propor- 
tioning the  materials  shoveled  into  the  sluices  to  the 
amount  and  speed  of  water  running  through  them,  the  use 
and  saving  of  the  precious  quicksilver  and  the  like,  until 
best  results  were  obtained  from  use  of  the  limited  and 
crude  appliances  at  hand. 

This  experience  of  placer  mining  for  gold,  though  lim- 
ited, coupled  with  personal  observation  of  the  primitive 
arrastra  and  curious  inspection  of  later  quartz  mining  and 
of  the  quaint  and  exceedingly  rude  first  stamp  mill  on  a 
mountainside  in  Jackson  county,  and  study  of  the  resource- 
ful inventors  at  their  work — this  personal  contact  with  the 
stout  men  who  were  battling  with  unwilling  Nature  for  her 
golden  treasures  made  profound  and  enduring  impress  upon 
my  mind.  And  this  impression,  though  my  life's  calling  has 
been  such  as  to  include  observation  of  other  activities  and 
other  fields,  has  deepened  with  the  rapidly  passing  years, 
until  to-day  I  stand,  with  you,  in  awe  of  the  fact  that  this 
young  Nation,  banner  in  hand,  leads  in  the  front  rank  be- 
cause of  her  unsurpassed  mines  of  gold,  copper,  iron  and 
coal — most  potential  factors  in  the  future  of  the  world. 
Without  these,  the  enterprise  and  genius  of  the  American 
in  industrial  effort  would  be  fatally  circumscribed. 

A  claim,  therefore,  for  recognition  as  a  co-worker  with 
you  can  not  be  taken  as  unjust,  and  if  I  entertain  the  com- 
mon bias  for  the  practical  men  who  dig  wealth  and  solve 
riddles  in  the  mine  depths,  it  should  not  be  considered  un- 
founded or  unnatural. 

The  universal  commercial  arfd  industrial  stagnation 
preceding  the  discovery  of  gold  in  abundance  on  the  Pacific 


RELATION   OF   MINING   TO   WORLD'S   ADVANCEMENT.         19 

Coast,  historically  well  known  to  you  all,  had  not  been  per- 
ceptibly relieved  in  the  then  Far  West,  when,  as  a  youth, 
I  started  with  my  parents  in  the  long,  hazardous  and  ardu- 
ous journey  overland  from  Illinois  to  Oregon. 

I  well  remember  the  conditions  then  existing  in  the 
great,  fertile,  nature-endowed  Mississippi  Valley.  Accumu- 
lated harvests  molded  and  rotted  in  the  granaries.  Human 
effort  seemed  to  be  rewarded  only  with  paralysis.  .There 
were  no  markets;  practically  no  means  of  transportation. 
There  was  no  money  to  replace  the  decaying  products  of  the 
fields  and  preserve  values  for  future  use.  There  were  only 
innumerable  "promises  to  pay,"  issued  by  many  carelessly 
licensed  "banks,"  to  serve  as  a  medium  of  exchange.  The 
irresponsibility  of  the  banks  and  abundance  of  easily-made 
counterfeits  kept  the  unhappy  holder  of  the  "money"  of 
that  day  awake  nights,  devising  schemes  to  get  rid  of  it  to 
his  neighbor  for  something  more  tangible  before  sunset  next 
day.  The  glint  of  gold  was  almost  unknown,  and  the  sheen 
of  silver  legendary.  Local  commerce  (the  limit  in  those 
days)  consisted  chiefly  in  "dicker,"  "swapping>"  trading 
one  commodity  for  another  and  taking  chances  all  around. 
The  principal  occupation  was  securing  lands,  "breaking" 
plows,  ox  teams  to  pull  the  plows,  planting  'corn,  raising 
hogs  on  the  surplus  corn  for  a  market  so  far  away  that 
profits  were  consumed  in  getting  there  and  back  again.  It 
was  a  plodding,  unsatisfactory  existence  for  citizens  Amer- 
ican-born. The  only  divertisement  was  the  heartrending, 
backbreaking  industry  of  digging  burr-oak,  black-oak  and 
white-oak  "grubs."  It  was  discouraging  work,  that  mining 
for  tap-roots  of  oak  grubs. 

From  these  conditions,  my  father,  with  his  family,  and 
others  en  train,  departed  from  the  Garden  Prairie  state  for 
the  then  far-away  Oregon.  West  of  the  Missouri  river 
there  was  no  settlement  save  a  small  group  of  Mormons  at 
Salt  Lake;  no  wrhite  inhabitants,  no  civilization  outside  the 
occupants  of  the  wagons  and  the  trudging  ox-drivers, 
slowly  moving  westward,  until  Oregon  was  reached.  All 
the  journey  seemed  to  be  over  an  uninviting  waste,  gray 
sage  plains,  waterless  deserts,  rugged  mountains.  And  so 


20  PROCEEDINGS    AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

it  remained  until  the  American  miner  came  to  inspire  and 
aid  a  transformation  which  has  made  Nebraska,  Colorado, 
Utah,  Wyoming,  the  Dakotas,  Nevada,  Montana,  Idaho,  Cal- 
ifornia and  Oregon,  sovereign  states  and  indispensable  fac- 
tors in  the  present  and  future  Greater  American  Republic. 

Our  American  miners  are  now  steadily  producing  more 
gold,  more  coal,  more  iron  and  more  copper  than  are  those 
of  any  other  nation. 

These  minerals,  proven  to  be  so  abundant  in  the  United 
States,  are  not  to  be  taken  in  situ  as  constituting  wealth. 
They  are  valueless  until  utilized.  Personal  equation  is  a 
factor  in  the  problem  of  wealth-getting.  The  tremendous 
energy,  courage  and  faith  of  the  pioneer  men,  aided  at  times 
by  capital,  are  integers  to  be  reckoned  in  the  sum  total. 

For  many  years  I  have  seen,  with  never-abating  inter- 
est, the  intermittent  human  floods  surging  to  occupy  new 
fields,  where  gold  was  known  to  be.  Sometimes  I  have 
mingled  writh  the  passing  stream,  sorely  tempted,  often,  to 
drift  with  the  tide — to  the  Fraser  river,  Cariboo,  lastly 
Alaska,  and  on  through  the  list. 

Portions  of  the  early  receding  tides,  increased  from 
new  sources,  flowed  backward  and  eastward  until  all  the 
Pacific  and  inter-mountain  states  were  contributing  gold 
and  copper,  silver,  coal  and  iron  in  such  increasing  volume 
that;  before  fairly  aware  of  the  magic  powers  of  American 
prospectors  and  miners,  Ave  were  startled  with  the  fact  that 
in  these  minerals  we  had  passed  the  productive  capacity  of 
every  other  nation;  and  wrere  exporting  the  raw  materials 
and  manufactured  products  thereof,  greatly  in  excess  of  im- 
portation of  like  articles. 

And  the  full  beginning  is  not  yet;  we  shall  be  masters 
of  the  world. 

This  mastery  will  be  attained,  not  alone  from  the  crude 
minerals,  but  from  and  through  the  aid  of  their  manufac- 
tured products  for  use  in  the  arts,  supported  by  exports  of 
other  products.  The  "Yankee  Invasion"  of  Europe,  though 
one  of  Peace,  has  more  of  force,  persistency  and  permanence 
than  a  fleet  of  battleships,  and  the  flag  of  commercial  and 
industrial  supremacy  is  there  to  stay.  American-built 


RELATION    OF    MINING    TO    WORLD'S   ADVANCEMENT.          21 

bridges,  railways,  locomotives,  mine  hoists,  mill  machinery, 
dynamos,  motors,  telephones,  plows,  harvesters  and  won- 
derful things  yet  to  follow,  will  continue  to  supply  foreign 
needs  and  bring  us  gold  in  return. 

Control  of  the  movements  and  disposition  of  the  world's 
money  metal  will  result  in  dominion  over  the  world's  com- 
merce  and  over  great  international  policies. 

For  a  long  period  this  Nation  produced,  and  will  con- 
tinue so  to  do  indefinitely,  more  gold  than  has  any  other 
nation.  The  measureless  energy  and  inventive  genius  of 
Americans  are  enlarging  the  means  of  discovery,  explora- 
tion and  separation  of  gold  from  its  associate  minerals. 
Profits  flow  from  the  rejected  rocks  of  yesterday.  The  hori- 
zon of  production  is  being  enlarged;  the  cream  has  not  been 
skimmed  from  the  vessel,  notwithstanding  the  assertions  of 
scientists  a  few  years  since.  Literally,  mountains  are  being 
fed  to  the  stamp  mills  and  enormous  profits  enrich  the  bold 
investors.  The  ocean  beaches  are  robbed  and  the  deserts 
yield  riches. 

With  exports  of  value  far  in  excess  of  imports  there 
is  and  must  be  a  steady  flow  of  gold  from  abroad  into  the 
United  States.  The  maintenance  of  these  two  conditions 
must  result  in  placing  the  strings  of  the  great  international 
purse  in  the  hands  of  the  United  States.  The  third  factor 
in  the  permanency  of  such  profound  responsibility  and 
power  rests  in  the  wisdom  of  the  statesmen  of  the  Republic. 

He  who  holds  the  purse  rules  the  household.  This  is 
as  true  when  applied  to  the  great  family  of  nations  as  to 
the  members  of  a  household. 

And  yet  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  or  to  assume 
that  money — even  gold — is  wealth  in  itself.  It  is,  however, 
indispensable  to  production  and  exchange  of  wealth,  for  it 
supplies  a  steady  or  fairly  steady  measure  of  values,  and 
means  of  exchanging  them.  Trade  without  it  would  be 
barter,  merely,  and  obstructed  at  every  point  by  its  own 
cumbrous  system. 

These  promised  conditions,  almost  accomplished,  are 
not  more  cause  for  felicitation  on  material  achievements 
than  for  the  extension  of  American  ideals  and  universal  in- 


PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

telligence — the  uplifting  of  humanity,  the  subjection  of 
wrong  for  the  right,  justice  and  freedom  for  injustice  and 
oppression. 

Within  the  brief  period  of  my  observation,  the  increase 
of  mineral  products  in  the  United  States  has  been  so  great 
as  to  tax,  almost  pass,  the  credulity  of  even  a  native-born 
citizen. 

In  1850  the  coal  product  (I  give  approximate  figures) 
was  7,000,000  tons;  pig  iron  less  than  1,000,000;  copper  650, 
lead  35,000,  silver  in  quantities  was  unknown,  unsuspected, 
and  prior  to  the  California  discovery,  gold  in  very  small 
quantities,  and  tentatively,  had  been  mined  in  the  South. 

The  gold  mines  on  the  Pacific  Coast  aroused  the  world 
to  the  new  era.  This  discovery  was  soon  followed  by  the 
opening  of  the  marvelous  silver  mines  in  Nevada;  then  gold, 
lead,  silver,  copper,  iron  and  coal  mines  succeeded  in  amaz- 
ing numbers  and  products  all  over  the  West,  especially  in 
the  Pacific  and  intermountain  states;  and  the  Michigan  cop- 
per and  iron,  and  the  enormous  coal  beds  in  Pennsylvania 
and  the  "Old  West;"  lastly  Alaska. 

It  was  bewildering  to  the  men  striving  to  keep  abreast 
of  the  times. 

From  the  records  it  can  safely  be  stated  that  the  pres- 
ent annual  product  of  the  leading  ores  in  the  United 
States  is : 

Coal,  225,000,000  tons;  iron,  80,000,000  tons;  copper, 
270,000  tons;  lead,  210,000  tons;  zinc,  120,000  tons. 

In  addition  -to  these  are  immense  products  of  salt,  cin- 
nabar and  other  minerals  in  great  variety. 

Petroleum  is  produced  here  to  the  amount  of  2,500,000,- 
000  gallons  annually. 

The  annual  product  of  silver  in  the  United  States 
amounts  to  about  |55,000,000  in  value,  and  that  of  gold 
$80,000,000,  greatly  exceeding,  as  before  stated,  the  product 
of  any  other  nation. 

This  record  of  things  accomplished  has  no  parallel. 
The  results  to  flow  from  its  continuance  defies  prophecy; 
the  probabilities  are  beyond  computation  and  the  possibil- 
ities world-arousing  and  portentous. 


RELATION    OF    MINING    TO   WORLD'S   ADVANCEMENT.          23 

To  bring  these  vast  amounts  of  minerals  to  the  surface 
more  than  a  half  million  men  have  daily  employment.  To 
feed  and  supply  them  and  to  transport  and  reduce  the  ores 
to  metallic  state,  and  to  manufacture  large  portions  into  all 
the  forms  for  uses  to  which  they  are  adapted  requires  the 
daily  work  of  several  millions  of  men,  women  and  children. 

The  little  company  of  prospectors  whom  I  first  saw  on 
their  way  to  Galena,  in  my  native  state,  to  sink  "sucker" 
holes  for  lead,  has  grown  to  mighty  communities,  sufficient 
in  numbers  and  strength  to  found  and  maintain  a  nation. 

I  have  been  at  some  trouble  to  verify,  approximately, 
my  recollection  of  the  achievements  of  fifty-four  years,  for 
the  purpose  of  emphasizing  an  argument  for  what  seems  to 
me  to  be  a  necessity — the  creation  of  a  department  of  gov- 
ernment (a  cabinet  office  perhaps)  to  be  charged  with  the 
special  duties  of  promoting  and  protecting  this  most  impor- 
tant industry. 

Here  I  desire  to  express  my  most  cordial  approval  of 
what  your  President  has  said  on  the  need  of  obtaining  the 
recognition  and  co-operation  of  the  United  States  for  the 
furtherance  of  this  great  industry.  Government,  of  course, 
is  not  asked  to  take  charge  of  it,  but  to  adopt  means  for  pro- 
motion of  it — the  same  as  in  commerce  and  agriculture. 

Every  citizen — every  child — of  this  Republic,  is  brought 
into  daily  contact  with  the  use  of  the  products  of  the  mines. 
Those  products  are  distributed  to  every  part  of  the  globe 
where  civilization  is. 

Certainly,  an  industry  engaged  in  exploiting  such 
large  areas  and  producing  such  enormous  values  as  pro- 
foundly to  affect  state  and  foreign  commerce  and  become 
potential  in  influence  upon  National  and  international  poli- 
cies, merits  the  gravest  attention  of  our  Government. 

Through  it,  if  at  all,  this  Nation  can  successfully  attain 
its  highest  standard  and  influence  in  the  world.  So  long  as 
this  people  can  control,  as  at  present,  the  price  of  copper, 
iron  and  coal,  and  be  dominant  in  the  production  and  poten- 
tial in  the  movements  of  the  money  metal,  it  will  become 
and  remain  foremost  among  the  nations. 

Though  I  have  given  some  figures,  just  now,  it  is  not  my 


24  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

intention  to  enter  into  a  close  or  extended  statistical  state- 
ment of  the  mines  of  the  country  and  of  their  products.  My 
object  is  briefly  to  advert  to  the  effect  that  the  mining  in- 
dustry has  exerted,  and  will  exert,  more  and  more,  upon  the 
destiny  of  the  human  race. 

The  history  of  civilization  is  largely  the  history  of  the 
development  of  industries.  Property  is  one  of  the  founda- 
tions of  organized  society,  as  human  character  is  the  other. 
Primitive  man  lived  by  the  chase,  aided  by  rudest  agricul- 
ture, and,  later,  though  not  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  by 
flocks  and  herds.  It  was  the  smelting  of  ores,  the  extraction 
and  use  of  metals,  that  added  to  his  primitive  life  the  forces 
that  have  produced  a  complex  industrial  civilization. 

The  condition  of  man  in  America,  at  the  time  of  the 
discovery  by  Europeans,  was  due  to  physical  causes  that  be- 
longed entirely  to  the  Newr  World.  It  is  one  of  the  illustra- 
tions which  prove  in  most  striking  ways  that  the  general 
course  of  history  is  ultimately  controlled  by  physical 
causes.  Man  in  America  was  making  no  progress.  He  had 
not  the  use  of  metals.  The  use  of  metals  he  had  not  ac- 
quired because  his  subsistence  was  the  chase,  and  agricul- 
ture in  the  lowest  state,  and,  lacking  the  aid  of  the  horse 
and  of  the  ox,  he  could  not  enter  on  an  extended  system  of 
agriculture  nor  lay  up  store  of  food.  Mining  and  the  work- 
ing of  metals  require  storehouses  of  cereal  food,  and  domes- 
tic animals  for  meat  supply,  as  well  as  for  heavy  labor. 
Till  a  people  can  reach  these  conditions  they  can  have  no 
time  to  spare  from  the  search  for  scanty  food.  So  the  Amer- 
ican Indian,  never,  probably,  would  have  made  any  progress 
beyond  the  condition  in  which  the  European  found  him. 

Mining  is  hazardous,  or  more  hazardous  than  other  un- 
dertakings, only  when  pursued  blindly,  without  special 
knowledge  or  judgment.  In  any  line  of  effort  one  who  is  to 
succeed  must  have  the  special  knowledge  which  that  line 
requires.  But,  as  mining  may  yield  greater  gains,  so  the 
risk  is  greater.  Hence,  more  need  in  this  industry  of  spe- 
cial knowledge  and  cautionary  judgment. 

In  some  ways  it  is  a  risky  business,  but  on  these  prin- 
ciples, the  risk  may  be  minimized.  The  tendency  of  this 


i  UNJVSRSITY 

OF 


RELATION   OF    MINING    TO    WORLD'S   ADVANCEMENT.          25 

pursuit,  especially  of  the  search  for  the  precious  metals, 
is  at  first  to  attract  a  restless  and  adventurous  population, 
whose  disregard  of  conventional  restraint  and  lessons  for 
experience  leads  to  the  assumptions  of  risks  and  of  bold 
and  adventurous  undertakings,  by  which,  however,  new 
countries  are  rapidly  opened  up  to  settlement  and  to  civil- 
ization. But  the  nature  of  things  in  a  short  time  so  ordains 
it  that  the  superficial  treasures  of  the  earth,  designed  to 
attract  this  superficial  class,  soon  disappear,  and  a  higher 
order  of  intelligence  is  required  and  a  more  permanent  con- 
dition of  things  is  established.  This  is  the  universal  his- 
tory of  our  mining  districts,  especially  of  those  whose  prod- 
ucts are  gold  and  silver.  Surface  mining  disappears,  and 
deep  mining,  requiring  capital,  special  knowledge  and 
skill,  follows  it. 

The  movements  of  civilization  depend,  mainly,  and 
always,  on  the  products  of  the  mines  of  the  earth.  Till  ores 
could  be  smelted  and  metals  could  be  had  in  quantities  for 
the  use  of  man,  progress  was  practically  impossible.  Even 
production  of  food,  from  agriculture,  in  sufficient  abund- 
ance to  meet  human  wants,  had  to  wait  on  production  of 
iron,  and  again  on  production  of  iron  and  steel  for  its  dis- 
tribution and  carriage  to  the  market.  Again,  the  depend- 
ence has  been  as  great  on  the  money  metals  as  media  of  ex- 
change. The  most  careless  thought  will  recognize  at  once 
how  great  a  place  mining  industry  has  among  the  means 
wh,ich  have  contributed  to  the  progress  of  the  human  race. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  industry  has  been,  is, 
and  ever  will  be,  the  indispensable  basis  of  civilization  and 
of  human  progress.  Conceive  the  world  deprived  of  the 
products  of  its  mines,  and  everything  else  becomes  incon- 
ceivable. You  have  then  the  conditions  of  man's  primitive 
life,  when  he  was  thrown  into  the  world  with  no  means  in 
his  hand  of  subduing  the  forces  of  nature  and  of  making 
earth  or  elements  serve  him. 

For  in  every  situation  man  is  dependent  on  the  re- 
sources of  Nature,  and  his  advancement  depends  on  the 
measures  of  his  success  in  utilizing  them.  The  struggle  up- 
ward has  been  hard;  for  some  accumulation  of  the  supply  of 


26  PROCEEDINGS    AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

food  was  necessary  before  labor  could  be  withdrawn  from 
the  necessities  of  the  passing  day,  so  that  mining  could  be 
pursued  and  metals  extracted.  Production  of  metals,  there- 
fore, was  slow,  and  as  agriculture  is  so  dependent  on  met- 
als, agricultural  progress  was  slow,  too.  In  America,  at  the 
discovery,  the  stick  hardened  and  sharpened  by  fire  was 
the  best  implement  of  agriculture. 

So,  as  the  artificial  production  of  food,  in  quantities  to 
relieve  natural  scarcity,  is  the  first  step  to  human  progress, 
the  second  one  is  as  great  in  itself  and  greater  in  its  vast 
and  varied  results,  namely,  the  complete  transformation  of 
human  society  through  the  opening  of  mines  and  the  ex- 
traction and  use  of  metals.  Of  the  first  step  of  this  change, 
in  the  substitution  of  an  artificial  for  a  natural  basis  of  sub- 
sistence— which  over  the  eastern  world,  in  times  more  or 
less  remote,  silently  shifted  the  foundations  of  human  so- 
ciety, or  rather  made  the  conditions  of  the  change,  the  writ- 
ten chronicles  have  little  account  to  give.  The  second  step, 
and  its  results,  are  nearer  our  own  time,  and  the  record  is 
ample,  for  though  we  do  not  know  when  iron  was  first 
smelted,  we  do  know  that  within  a  very  recent  period  the  in- 
creased production  of  iron,  later  in  the  form  of  steel,  has 
wrought  almost  complete  transformation  of  the  artificial 
structure  called  civilized  life,  and  the  change  has  been  ac- 
celerated and  augmented  by  the  production  of  vast  quanti- 
ties of  other  metals — copper  perhaps  coming  next  in  impor- 
tance in  the  industrial  world;  and  gold  and  silver,  indis- 
pensable as  metals  in  commercial  exchange.  And  to  crown 
all,  coal,  indispensable  source,  through  combustion,  of  mo- 
tive power — transformable  and  transferable  through  steam 
and  electro-dynamics,  into  working  force  of  infinite  extent, 
for  all  the  uses  of  man. 

The  function  of  machinery  in  this  whole  work  is  im- 
mense, and  machinery  depends  on  mines  and  ores  and  met- 
als, and  coal  to  operate  it.  So,  without  the  products  of  the 
mines — were  it  conceivable  they  should  be  suspended — the 
world  would  stand  still.  It  would  lapse  or  sink  to  the  prim- 
itive conditions  of  life  from  which  the  mines  and  the  metals 
delivered  it. 


RELATION  OF  MINING  TO  WORLD'S  ADVANCEMENT.  27 

And  transportation,  or  means  of  transport,  application 
of  power,  through  machinery,  for  facility  and  rapidity  of 
movement,  for  carriage  of  freight  and  for  speed  and  com- 
fort of  travel,  by  which  the  present  age  is  specially  distin- 
guished above  all  that  has  preceded  it,  are  functions  of  hu- 
man activity  which  have  produced  upon  the  world  greatest 
of  all  effects  ever  witnessed  within  the  history  of  man.  It 
is  through  development  of  this  activity  and  its  consequent 
influence  that  national  and  international  intercourse  have 
been  established.  Thus  the  play  and  influence  of  nation 
upon  nation,  of  race  upon  race,  stimulate  the  energies  and 
promote  the  progress  of  all.  Through  this  movement  not 
only  the  race  of  men,  but  the  earth  itself  is  subjected  to  pro- 
found modification,  leading  to  improvement  in  no  other 
way  attainable.  It  was  not  till  the  age  of  mining,  of  coal, 
of  metals,  that  this  could  be  realized — transport  and  travel 
with  speed,  and  cheaply,  by  land  and  by  sea.  So  men  in 
our  day,  as  in  the  old  poet's  conception  of  the  messengers 
of  God,  are  able  to  "post  o'er  land  and  ocean  without  rest." 

I  need  say  no  more.  The  subject  is  vast  and  infinite, 
and  I  can  present  merely  an  outline,  suggesting  the  rela- 
tions of  the  mining  industry  of  the  world  to  the  progress  of 
the  human  race.  It  is  not  all,  indeed,  but  it  is  the  greatest 
of  all  factors ;  for  of  the  infinite  development  that  has  trans- 
formed all  human  society  it  is  the  principal  agent  and  main 
support.  It  not  only  supports  itself,  but  it  stimulates  every 
other  energy.  It  is  the -main  agency  which  has  produced 
that  infinite  variation  which  gives  to  modern  life  the  char- 
acter that  so  distinguishes  it  from  the  life  of  the  earlier 
time. 


The  Public  Land  Commission. 

BY  MR.  F.  H.   NEWELL,  CHIEF  OF  THE   RECLAMATION   SERVICE. 

MB.  F.  H.  NEWELL:  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen: 
It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  have  the  honor  of  appear- 
ing before  this  distinguished  body,  representing,  as  it  does, 
mining,  one  of  the  greatest  interests  of  the  United  States. 
As  your  President  has  said,  Mr.  Pinchot  and  I  appear 
here  under  instructions  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States  and  as  members  of  the  Public  Land  Commission, 
consisting  of  Governor  Kichards  of  Wyoming,  the  Commis- 
sioner of  the  General  Land  Office,  as  chairman,  of  Mr.  Gif- 
ford  Pinchot,  the  Forester  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, and  myself,  constituting  a  commission  of  three  per- 
sons, to  consider  and  report  to  the  President  upon  the  pres- 
ent administration  and  desirable  changes  of  the  land  laws. 
Now,  you  gentlemen  interested  in  mining  have,  of 
course,  a  very  vital  concern  with  the  present  land  laws  and 
their  administration;  and  although  these  do  not  touch  you, 
perhaps,  on  as  many  points  as  they  do  some  other  inter- 
ests, yet  there  are  certain  laws  enacted  by  Congress,  with 
which  you  have  more  or  less  to  do,  and  doubtless  a  number 
of  you  have  very  definite  ideas  and  suggestions  which  you 
might  make  as  to  the  administration  of  these  laws  and  the 
changes  which  might  be  beneficial  for  the  development  of 
the  mining  industry. 

There  has  been,  as  we  are  all  aware,  much  discussion 
as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  law  governing  the  apex  and  of  the 
decisions  which  follow  it,  and  if  we  should  open  this  sub- 
ject for  discussion  I  imagine  there  would  be  a  great  differ- 
ence of  opinion  here  as  to  the  benefits  to  the  country  of  fol- 
lowing vertical  lines  or  of  following  the  vein.  On  that  point 
the  commission  would  be  glad  to  have  suggestions  and  ad- 
vice, as  the  proper  solution  of  that  point  will  render  great 
benefit  to  the  mining  business,  putting  it  on  a  safe  basis, 
and  make  it  easier  for  you  men,  engaged  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  country,  to  carry  on  your  business  safely  and 
economically. 


THE    PUBLIC   LAND   COMMISSION.  29 

I  can  not  take  the  time  now  to  go  into  a  discussion  of 
these  matters,  even  if  it  were  proper  to  do  so.  The  point 
that  I  wish  to  make  is,  that  we,  as  members  of  the  commis- 
sion, would  be  very  glad  for  any  suggestions,  written  or 
oral,  Avhich  would  tend  to  guide  or  assist  us  in  making,  in 
the  future,  some  definite  recommendations  to  the  President, 
which  he  in  turn  may  transmit  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Pinchot  and  I  also  appear  before  you  in  another 
capacity,  viz.,  each  as  the  head  of  a  division  or  bureau  of  an 
important  work  of  the  Government.  Mr.  Pinchot,  as  the 
Chief  Forester,  will  speak  upon  forestry,  and  I  will  claim 
your  attention  for  a  few  moments  in  regard  to  another  and 
co-ordinate  piece  of  work,  that  of  the  reclamation  of  the 
arid  lands. 

Now,  it  may  not  be  obvious  at  first  as  to  what  connec- 
tion there  is  between  irrigation  and  mining,  but  all  of  you 
appreciate  that  the  best  part  of  our  mining  industry,  at 
least  a  considerable  part  of  it,  of  the  precious  metals,  is 
in  the  arid  West,  where  water  is  the  foundation  of  all  val- 
ues, except  mineral,  and  of  all  life  and  industry,  The  con- 
servation of  the  water  supply,  the  bringing  in  of  a  popula- 
tion, the  building  up  of  agriculture  and  allied  industries, 
all  have  a  very  direct  and  vital  bearing  upon  your  business. 

It  may  be  said  in  general  terms  that  irrigation  in  the 
arid  West  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  mining  industry,  espe- 
cially of  the  hydraulic  mining.  As  you  are  all  aware,  many 
of  the  old  hydraulic  flumes  and  ditches  built  in  California 
and  on  the  Pacific  Coast  have  been  gradually  converted  into 
great  irrigation  systems,  because  the  use  of  those  flumes 
and  hydraulic  works  has  not  been  profitable  for  placer 
mining.  Many  of  the  large  and  important  irrigation  sys- 
tems of  California  have  been  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the 
work  done  by  the  miner.  In  other  words,  the  miner  has  not 
only  been  the  pioneer,  has  furnished  the  market,  has  cleared 
the  way,  but  his  very  works  have  contributed  to  the  agri- 
cultural development  of  the  country,  and  in  return  it  is 
hoped  and  believed  that  the  hydraulic  works  built  for  agri- 


30  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 

culture  and  from  which  power  will  be  developed,  will  be  of 
use  directly  and  indirectly  to  the  whole  mining  fraternity. 

As  you  are  probably  aware,  by  the  law  of  June  17r 
1902,  the  proceeds  from  the  disposal  of  public  lands  in  all 
our  western  states  and  territories — thirteen  states  and 
three  territories — has  been  set  aside  for  the  construction 
of  works  of  reclamation  for  the  building  of  large  dams  and 
reservoirs  and  canals  for  holding  the  waters  and  distribut- 
ing them  to  the  arid  land.  Those  works,  built  in  the  high 
mountains,  in  or  adjacent  to  the  forest  reserves  within  the 
mining  country,  frequently  will  have  very  direct  bearing 
upon  many  industries,  and  the  creation  of  water  power 
which  will  follow  the  building  of  these  works  will  probably 
afford  the  means  for  the  transmission  and  utilization  of  a 
cheap  power  extremely  valuable  to  you  in  every  way  in 
operating  and  lighting  the  mines.  It  is  only  A  few  days 
ago  that  I  had  the  pleasure  of  going  into  one  of  the  largest 
mines  in  northern  Idaho,  lighted  throughout  by  electricity, 
transmitted  forty  or  fifty  miles;  and  the  contrast  to  the  old> 
dark,  gloomy  holes  of  the  past  where  you  could  barely  make 
your  way  with  a  candle  is  striking  to  one  who  occasionally 
visits  those  great  works. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  repeat  to  you  that  we,  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Public  Land  Commission,  wish  advice  and  sug- 
gestions from  you;  and  as  the  chief  of  the  Reclamation  Ser- 
vice, I  wish  to  aid  and  co-operate  with  you  and  with  the 
mining  men  in  every  possible  way  in  large  works  which  are 
to  be  built  by  the  Government  for  the  development  of  the 
West. 


ME.  GIPFOKD  PINCHOT:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen:  Mr.  Newell  has  spoken  to  you  of  the  Public 
Land  Commission,  of  which  he  and  I  are  members.  I  want 
to  say  just  a  word  about  that. 

The  fundamental  idea  that  the  President  had  in  mind 
when  he  created  this  commission  was  to  get  at  the  best  use 
of  the  public  lands,  of  all  the  public  lands,  an  idea  which 
originated  with  him  in  its  present  form,  and  which  he  has 
done  more  than  any  one  else  to  put  into  effect.  We  were 


THE   PUBLIC   LAND   COMMISSION.  31 

asked  then  to  investigate  and  say  how  each  part  of  the  pub- 
lic domain  can  be  best  used,  and  Mr.  Newell  has  told  you 
how  pleased  we  shall  be  to  hear  from  you  as  to  any  im- 
provements in  laws  or  practice  that  can  be  made  to  improve 
and  further  the  use  of  the  public  domain  for  the  miner. 

Now,  I  have  come  in  contact  with  public  land  questions 
mainly  on  the  forestry  side,  and  the  question  there  has 
arisen  continually,  daily,  How  can  we  give  the  forested  part 
of  the  public  lands  their  best  use  for  every  part  of  the  com- 
munity? We  have  taken  up  this  matter  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  lumbermen,  and  there  we  find  that  the  essential 
thing  is  to  keep  up  the  timber  supply.  In  other  words,  the 
object  of  the  forester  is  not  to  preserve  trees  and  destroy 
the  lumber  industry,  but  to  preserve  trees  and  preserve  the 
lumber  industry  by  doing  it,  cutting  the  right  trees  and  let- 
ting the  young  ones  come  on.  We  have  taken  it  up  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  grazing  man,  the  live  stock  man. 
What  can  you  do  with  the  forested  lands  to  give  their  best 
use  to  him?  The  answer  is,  make  the  range  and 
the  forest  available  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  its  destruc- 
tion, and  make  the  grass  resource  a  permanent  resource. 
And  so  on  with  the  other  great  interests  which  are  con- 
cerned with  the  forests.  We  have  most  to  do  with  regard  to 
water  supply,  and  you  gentlemen  are  very  intimately  con- 
nected with  that,  to  keep  the  water  coming  from  the  for- 
ested hills,  preventing,  so  far  as  we  can,  high  floods  at  one 
time  and  too  low  water  at  another. 

As  to  the  mining  industry,  I  approach  there  a  ques- 
tion which  has  been  very  largely  misunderstood  at  first 
among  the  miners  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States, 
and  latterly,  I  am  very  glad  to  say  is  much  better  grasped 
because  the  mining  people  have  come  in  contact  with  forest 
reserves.  You  know  when  any  new  subject  comes  before 
the  great  body  of  people  there  arise  at  first  mists  and  mis- 
understandings which  are  gradually  cleared  away  as  the 
thought  comes  in  contact  with  the  individual  mind.  When 
the  Black  Hills  Forest  Keserve  was  created,  there  was  an 
impression  among  the  mining  men  there  that  they  were  all 
going  to  be  driven  out,  that  that  was  the  end  of  the  devel- 


32  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

opment  of  the  hills,  that  the  ranches  must  go,  that  the  min- 
ers must  go,  and  they  used  to  come  down  to  the  railroad 
train  wrapped  in  blankets  and  yelling  like  Indians,  to  indi- 
cate that  they  had  something  to  say  on  the  subject.  They 
have  seen  what  the  actual  facts  were,  and  the  people  of  no 
community  in  the  United  States  stand  more  solidly  behind 
the  forest  reserve  policy  than  the  mining  men  of  the  Black 
Hills.  The  reason  is  obvious.  You  can  not  run  a  mine 
without  timber.  Many  mines  can  not  run  without  water. 
Now,  there  may  be  plenty  of  timber  over  a  range,  but  if  it 
can  not  be  gotten  to  your  mine  cheaply  enough,  it  is  of  no 
more  good  to  you  than  if  it  were  not  there.  The  object, 
then,  of  the  forest  reserve  policy  of  the  Government  with 
relation  to  the  mining  man  is  to  keep  timber  enough  in  his 
country,  keep  it  growing  in  his  country,  to  make  it  possible 
for  him  to  run  his  mine  at  a  profit.  Let  me  say  in  a  word 
how  that  is  done.  In  the  first  place,  the  Government's  pol- 
icy definitely  is  to  protect  and  promote  local  industries  as 
against  industries  at  a  distance.  That  means  that  we  should 
prefer  to  have  the  timber  cut  and  used  in  the  country  in- 
stead of  being  sent  out  of  the  country  for  use  somewhere 
else.  Secondly,  we  want  to  keep  the  fires  out.  I  was  told 
just  the  other  day  by  a  gentleman  w^hom  I  see  before  me, 
that  many  times  the  amount  of  timber  used  is  burned  in 
northern  Idaho  every  year,  and  every  bit  of  it  that  is  burned 
means  a  loss  to  the  mineral  industry  of  that  country  either 
now  or  within  a  few  years.  Forest  protection  keeps  the  tim- 
ber from  being  burned  and  saves  it  for  mining  use, .  all  of 
which  is  unquestionably  good,  and  when  those  facts  are  un- 
derstood we  have  no  complaint  from  any  mining  man  on 
those  two  points. 

But  let  me  return  for  a  moment  to  the  misconception 
of  which  I  spoke.  There  has  been  an  idea  that  prospecting 
was  not  allowed  in  forest  reserves,  that  timber  could  not  be 
used,  and  that  in  general  the  organization  of  the  service 
was  such  as  to  make  it  hostile  instead  of  friendly.  I  want 
to  read  to  you  just  a  paragraph  or  two  from  the  law  on  that 
subject.  The  law  provides:  "That  any  mineral  lands  in 
any  forest  reservation  which  have  been  or  wnich  may  be 


THE   PUBLIC   LAND  COMMISSION.  33 

shown  to  be  such  and  subject  to  entry  under  the  existing 
mining  laws  of  the  United  States  and  the  rules  and  regu- 
lations applying  thereto  shall  continue  to  be  subject  to  such 
location  and  entry,  notwithstanding  the  reservation." 

That  nails  that  point.  You  can  prospect,  locate  and 
develop  mines  in  a  forest  reserve,  the  same  as  you  can  out- 
side. 

Can  you  use  the  timber?  Here  is  what  the  law  says  on 
that  point: 

"For  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  living  and  growing 
timber  and  promoting  the  younger  growth  on  forest  re- 
serves, the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  under  such  rules  and 
regulations  as  he  may  prescribe,  may  cause  to  be  designated 
and  appraised  so  much  of  the  dead,  matured  or  large 
growth  of  trees  found  upon  such  reservation  as  may  be  con- 
sistent with  the  utilization  of  the  forests  thereof,  and  may 
sell  the  same  for  not  less  than  the  appraised  value  in  such 
quantities  and  to  such  purchaser  as  he  may  prescribe,  to  be 
used  in  the  state  or  territory  in  which  such  reservation  may 
be  situated  respectively,  and  not  for  export  therefrom." 

That  is  where  the  sale  of  timber  is  authorized.  You 
have  prospecting  authorized,  development  of  mines  author- 
ized and  a  supply  of  timber  provided  for,  and  at  the  same 
time  have  forest  protection  and  conservation  of  the  water 
supply.  I  insist  on  that  point  because  of  a  misunderstand- 
ing which  at  times  has  occurred.  Being  connected  with  the 
forest  reserve  work,  I  have  received  a  great  many  com- 
plaints at  different  times  of  the  red  tape,  which  obscures 
the  operation  of  these  laws  and  prevents  them  from  being 
as  useful  to  the  mining  man  as  they  would  otherwise  be, 
and  I  am  obliged  to  admit  frankly  that  there  is  just  com- 
plaint, on  those  grounds,  that  there  has  been  too  much  red 
tape;  and  also,  I  want  to  say,  the  Government  being  aware 
of  that  fact  and  taking  steps  to  prevent  it,  the  chances  are 
there  will  be  very  much  less  of  it  in  the  future.  The  pre- 
eminent thing  is  the  protection  of  timber  everywhere,  which 
is  the  occasion  of  this  red  tape,  and  the  resolution  which 
wras  read  to  you  just  now  is  designed  to  do  away  with  the 
delays,  which  are  the  most  serious  things  in  this  connec- 


34  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

tion.  The  Government  understands  just  as  well  as  you  do 
that  when  a  mining  man  has  got  to  have  timber  to  keep 
open  his  workings,  he  has  got  to  have  it;  he  has  got  to  have 
it  right  away,  and  there  should  be  just  as  little  delay  as  pos- 
sible. Now,  what  happens  under  the  present  management 
when  a  mining  man  sends  in  an  application  for  timber  in 
a  forest  reserve?  What  happens  because  of  this  separation 
of  the  Government's  forest  work  into  three  parts  as  it  is 
now,  in  the  Geological  Survey,  the  General  Land  Office, 
and  the  Department  of  Agriculture?  Suppose  you  write  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  for  some  timber.  He  sends 
that  application  out  to  the  supervisor.  The  supervisor 
ought  to  have  power  himself,  but  he  has  no  power  to-day. 
The  supervisor  makes  a  report  on  it;  he  sends  it  back  to 
the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office;  the  Commis- 
sioner of  the  Land  Office  sends  it  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior;  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  sends  it  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  Agriculture;  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  sends  it 
to  the  Bureau  of  Forestry  for  an  expert  opinion  as  to 
whether  or  not  that  timber  ought  to  be  cut.  When  the  Bu- 
reau of  Forestry  says  it  ought  to  be  cut,  it  goes  back  to  the 
Secretary  of  Agriculture,  from  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  to  the  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office,  from  the 
Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office  to  the  division  in  the  Land 
Office,  which  has  charge  of  forest  reserves  of  that  division, 
to  the  Supervisor,  and  finally  the  mining  man  gets  his  fin- 
gers on  it  again.  Now,  we  are  trying  to  do  away  with  all 
of  that  sort  of  thing  and  handle  this  matter  in  a  business- 
like, direct  way,  just  as  any  business  man  would  manage  his 
own  business.  But,  I  want  you  to  remember  that  red  tape, 
under  our  system  of  Government,  is  the  temporary  thing 
and  is  going  to  be  wiped  out;  that  the  permanent  thing  is 
the  great  advantage  of  the  permanent  timber  supply,  per- 
manent water  supply,  local  use  of  the  available  timber  and 
such  matters  as  that.  It  is  very  hard,  I  know,  when  a  man 
is  bothered  with  things  of  that  sort  not  to  have  the  thing 
that  bothers  him  removed  so  that  he  can  go  back  to  his 


THE   PUBLIC  LAND   COMMISSION.  35 

place  in  his  mine,  but  it  is  the  greater  permanent  benefit 
that  underlies  it. 

I  want  to  add  one  thing  more.  Mr.  Newell  has  spokenr 
as  I  have  said,  about  the  desire  we  have  to  get  information 
on  public  land  laws  from  you,  as  to  how  they  can  be  im- 
proved for  your  use.  Now,  I  shall  be  equally  glad  on  the 
other  side  to  get  any  suggestions  which  you  are  kind  enough 
to  make  as  to  how  the  working  of  the  forest  reserves  can  be 
improved  from  the  mining  man's  standpoint. 

I  thank  you  very  much. 

ME,  HAEEY  S.  JOSEPH  (of  Utah):  The  other  day,  in 
going  into  one  of  your  forest  reserves  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Idaho,  bordering  on  Wyoming,  I  saw  vast  areas  of  what 
would  be  very  good  agricultural  land  included  in  the  forest 
reserve.  I  would  like  to  ask  whether  it  is  the  purpose  of 
the  Government  to  plant  that  with  trees  for  timber. 

ME.  GIFFOED  PINCHOT:  I  am  glad  you  asked  that 
question.  The  Government's  purpose  about  agricultural 
land  in  forest  reserves  is  two-fold.  In  the  first  place,  not  to 
put  into  forest  reserves  agricultural  land  where  it  is  possi- 
ble to  keep  it  out;  and,  secondly,  even  if  it  is  in,  to  make 
it  open  to  entry;  and  the  commission  which  I  have  the  honor 
to  be  a  member  of  has  made  a  report  to  the  President,  and  a 
bill  has  been  introduced  in  Congress,  which  will  undoubt- 
edly pass  at  this  next  session,  making  all  agricultural  lands 
in  forest  reserves  open  to  agricultural  entry.  It  is  a  great 
deal  better  to  raise  grain  on  land  than  to  raise  trees,  but 
when  we  can  not  raise  grain,  then  let  us  have  trees. 

ME,  T.  A.  EICKAED  (of  New  York):  Gentlemen:  I 
have  no  speech  or  address  to  make,  but  I  am  glad  to  have 
the  opportunity  of  expressing  my  appreciation  of  the  honor 
of  being  a  national  delegate  to  this  Congress,  and  at  the 
same  time  I  may  tender  the  apologies  of  Mr.  James  GatelT 
and  Mr.  Hammond  for  their  inability  to  be  here.  Mr. 
Gately  at  the  very  last  minute  found  it  necessary  to  remain 
in  New  York  in  connection  with  some  very  important  ex- 
periments in  the  metallurgy  of  iron  which  he  is  carrying 
on,  and  Mr.  Hammond  sends  a  telegram  that  he  has  been 
somewhat  overwhelmed  of  late  and  crowded  with  work  so- 


36  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

that  he  could  not  make  it  possible  to  make  this  journey  and 
attend  this  Congress.  However,  gentlemen,  I  hope  you  will 
appreciate  my  interest  in  the  doings  of  this  Congress  by 
the  three  thousand  miles  which  I  have  traveled  to  come 
from  New  York  here. 

New  York,  it  occurs  to  me,  is  somewhat  of  a  mining 
centre,  not  in  a  financial  sense,  as  most  of  you  are  awrare, 
T^ut  in  a  practical  sense.  I  have  seen  more  mining  in  New 
York  City  during  the  last  two  years  every  day  than  I  have 
seen  anywhere  else.  I  refer  to  the  Subway.  There  are 
more  men, '  and  there  is  more  capital  represented  in  the 
digging  of  the  great  system  of  tunnels  under  New  York 
City,  than  is  represented  by  the  activities  of  a  large  mining 
region.  And  to  any  of  you  who  are  there  as  miners,  it  wTill 
appear  to  you  remarkable  that  all  of  this  work  should  be 
going  on  underneath  and  in  the  heart  of  a  great  city  with 
so  little  interruption  of  the  traffic. 

I  may  say  in  all  sincerity  that  I  have  listened  to  the 
speeches  at  this  Congress  with  great  interest,  and  partic- 
ularly to  the  address  of  the  President.  I  can  say,  too,  in  all 
sincerity,  that  if  your  spirit  is  as  earnest  and  if  you  are  as 
sincere  in  your  purpose  to  get  what  you  want  as  is  evidenced 
by  the  speech  of  your  President,  you  will  win,  and  I  hope 
you  will.  There  is  no  question  in  my  own  mind,  as  one  who 
has  been  connected  with  mining  in  a  practical  way  as  an 
engineer  long  before  I  was  an  editor,  that  the  mining  in- 
dustry does  need  some  means  through  which  it  can  make 
its  wants  known.  Mining  men,  as  a  rule,  do  not  maintain 
very  close  relations  with  their  congressional  representa- 
tives, and  for  that  reason,  perhaps,  'they  do  not  exercise  as 
much  influence  at  Washington  as  the  output  of  their  activi- 
ties warrant;  and  a  Congress  like  this  can  put  into  concrete 
shape  the  desires  and  the  requirements  of  a  great  industry. 
I  hope  that  in  your  agitation  for  a  mining  department— 
which  has  been  voiced  and  carried  in  the  resolution  this 
morning,  an  agitation  which  I  hope  will  be  successful— 
that  you  will  then  take  up  other  matters.  For  instance,  the 
control  of  mining  companies  in  some  such  way  as  to  make 
illegitimate  mining  more  expensive  and  more  difficult  and 


THE   PUBLIC   LAND   COMMISSION.  37 

to  make  legitimate  mining  more  easy.  I  hope,  also,  that 
you  will  pay  some  regard  to  the  anomalies  of  the  mining 
law.  A  resolution  pertaining  to  that  matter  has  been 
brought  before  the  committee.  But  that  is  only  one  of  a 
great  number  of  difficult  problems  which  have  come  before 
us  mining  men  as  a  consequence  of  the  early  mistakes  of 
the  mining  law.  I  hope,  gentlemen,  therefore,  that  you  will 
be  successful  in  your  work.  I  believe  from  what  I  have 
seen  here,  that  you  have  a  sufficient  number  of  earnest,  pur- 
poseful men  to  do  good  work,  and  I  hope  that  your  efforts 
will  redound  to  the  greater  benefit  of  an  industry  wrhich  is 
one  of  the  most  beneficent  known  to  a  busy  humanity. 


Idaho  and  Thunder  Mountain. 

BY  A.   E.   BORTHWICK,   BOISE,   IDAHO. 

Idaho  is  a  state  having  great  mineral  resources.  A  few 
leaves  only  of  the  book  Nature  has  so  lavishly  enriched 
have  been  turned.  Enough  development  has  been  made, 
however,  to  show  that  when  the  "Gem  of  the  Mountains77 
comes  to  her  own  her  record  of  gold  production  will  rank 
along  with  California  and  Colorado.  As  a  silver  producer 
she  will  be  a  peer  with  Nevada  of  old,  and  Montana  and 
Utah  of  the  present.  In  her  production  of  lead  she  now  out- 
ranks them  all.  When  the  development  of  her  copper  de- 
posits in  the  Seven  Devils,  North  Fork  of  Clearwater,  Big 
Creek  and  Custer  countries  are  commensurate  with  their 
richness,  she  will  vie  with  Arizona  and  Sonora  in  actual 
production.  A  large  part  of  the  state  is  still  as  Nature  left 
it  thousands  of  years  ago,  without  roads,  trails  or  inhabi- 
tants, the  surface  covered  with  forests  and  grass,  peopled 
by  the  wild  animals,  awaiting  the  genius  of  man  to  fill  her 
woody  fastnesses  with  the  sound  of  the  mill  whistle,  the 
hum  of  the  town  and  the  roar  6f  the  stamp  mill. 

Seventeen  out  of  her  twenty-one  counties  are  producers 
of  the  precious  metals. 

I  have  not  at  hand  the  reports  since  1902,  but  in  that 
year  the  value  of  her  gold  was  $2,467,233;  of  silver  $6,784,- 
113;  of  lead  $4,172,805;  aggregating  $13,424,151. 

The  production  of  the  Coeur  de  Alene  silver-lead  mines 
in  1903  swelled  the  total  production  to  over  $20,000,000. 

The  Coeur  de  Alene  mines  are  wonderfully  rich,  and 
the  management  of  some  of  her  principal  mines  are  doing 
development  work  looking  to  continuous  and  increasing 
production  for  twenty-five  and  thirty  years. 

The  Bunker  Hill  and  Sullivan  Company  have  com- 
pleted a  tunnel  over  two  miles  in  length  through  which  an 
electric  railway  brings  the  ore  from  its  stopes  to  the  con- 
centrator. Stopes  seventy  feet  wide,  carrying  pay  ore,  are 
talked  of. 


IDAHO    AND    THUNDER    MOUNTAIN.  39 

The  Morning  mine  at  Mullen  has  had  a  13',000  foot  tun- 
nel under  way  for  over  three  years,  designed  to  tap  the  ore 
body  at  great  depth. 

The  Hercules  mine  near  Burke,  was  developed  by  a 
group  of  resident  miners  and  when  the  ore  body  was  struck 
in  going  1,600  feet  it  was  found  to  be  so  vast  and  rich  that 
the  company  has  for  the  past  two  years  or  more  been  paying 
about  |40,000  per  month  in  shipping  the  high  grade  ores 
direct  from  the  mines  to  the  eastern  smelters. 

Owyhee  and  Boise  counties  are  the  present  principal 
producers  of  gold  with  a  credit  of  above  a  million. 

The  production  of  the  placers  of  Boise  basin  com- 
menced in  the  early  760's,  still  continues. 

Best  authorities  give  a  total  production  of  f  150,000,000, 
and  there  is  much  ground  as  yet  untouched. 

The  early  history  of  the  production  of  War  Eagle  and 
South  mountain,  in  Owyhee,  has  been  exceeded  by  the  later 
yields  of  Teloride  mountain  and  De  Lamar. 

To  even  name  all  of  the  districts  and  famous  mines 
would  make  a  long  list. 

For  full  and  complete  report  on  the  mines  of  Idaho 
your  attention  is  especially  called  to  the  able  and  scientific 
report  of  Mr.  Bell,  state  mine  inspector,  which  was  read 
by  title  and  will  be  embodied  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Con 
gress. 

As  a  sample  of  some  of  the  wonderful  riches  the  state 
contains,  a  brief  description  of  one  district  is  here  given : 

Through  the  operations  of  a  short  mining  boom  in  1901- 
02,  Thunder  mountain  has  become  known  all  over  the  coun- 
try from  Maine  to  Oregon  as  a  remote  mining  locality  in 
central  Idaho.  In  some  places,  no  doubt,  the  opinion  is 
held  that  it  is  a  good  place  to  stay  away  from. 

Thunder  mountain  lies  a  little  south  of  the  45th  paral- 
lel of  latitude,  and  almost  on  the  115th  Western  meridian 
line.  The  mining  district  of  that  name  comprises  the  coun- 
try around  it  for  perhaps  thirty  miles  in  every  direction. 
No  surveys  have  been  made,  and  few  maps  indicate  the  ex- 
act locality.  The  district  is  new,  very  large,  and,  judging 
from  the  comparatively  small  amount  of  development  work 


40  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

done  thus  far,  is  very  rich.  It  is  situated  on  the  top  lines 
of  the  watershed  draining  northerly  into  the  Salmon  river. 
The  altitude  is  not  as  high  as  Cripple  Creek  and  many  rich 
camps  in  Colorado.  None  of  the  higher  peaks  reach  quite 
10,000  feet;  the  general  average  of  the  ridges  being  from 
7,500  to  8,500  feet. 

The  country  is  very  rugged  and  the  mountain  sides 
steep.  Slide  rock  is  common. 

In  no  direction  is  there  scarcity  of  wood  or  water. 
Grass  is  plentiful  in  its  season.  There  are  large  areas  of 
burned  timber,  but  generally  there  is  abundance  of  timber. 
Valleys  are  narrow;  seldom  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide.  Win- 
ter is  long,  but  not  severe.  The  thermometer  showed  16  de- 
grees below  zero  once  last  winter;  a  number  of  times  it  was 
10  degrees  and  12  degrees  below  zero.  Snow  commences  to 
come  from  November  10th  to  20th.,  and  is  three  feet  deep  on 
the  bottoms,  to  six  and  eight  feet  on  the  ridges.  It  is  off  the 
southern  slopes  in  April,  and  grass  starts  at  once.  May  1st 
shows  the  creek  bottoms  bare  of  snow  and  blooming. 

The  placer  mining  operations  of  the  Caswells,  with 
the  subsequent  sale  of  their  holdings  on  Thunder  moun- 
tain to  Colonel  Dewey,  of  Nampa,  Idaho,  followed  by  ener- 
getic operations,  started  the  mining  boom  in  1901-02.  Thous- 
ands went  in  and  claims  were  staked  covering  the  porphyry 
field  for  nearly  twenty  miles  in  all  directions.  Of  the  thous- 
ands who  went  in,  a  few  hundred  saw  the  probable  future 
wealth  to  be  had  and  remained.  Of  the  thousands  of 
claims  that  were  staked  and  recorded  a  few  groups  have 
been  developed,  enough  to  indicate  the  ultimate  richness 
and  greatness  of  the  district. 

In  the  narrow  valley  of  Monumental  creek,  at  the 
mouth  of  Mule  creek  which  drains  the  Dewey  property,  and 
about  midway  between  Thunder  mountain  and  Rainbow 
peak,  a  town  was  started,  named  Roosevelt.  To  the  West 
the  nearest  wagon  road  was  seventy  miles,  and  to  the  South 
eighty-five  miles. 

As  prospecting  went  on  it  was  found  that  much  of  the 
surface  porphyry  which  covers  a  large  part  of  the  terri- 
tory, was  either  barren  or  yielded  but  a  small  amount  of 


IDAHO    AND    THUNDER    MOUNTAIN.  41 

gold,  also  that  in  a  marked  degree  there  was  an  absence  of 
ledges  or  veins  or  walls  which  the  prospector  considered  es- 
sential to  ore  production.  In  some  places  the  surface  rock 
would  show  colors  in  panning,  and  the  earth  on  some  of  the 
higher  hills  wrould  exhibit  a  generous  streak  of  yellow  to 
those  who  took  the  trouble  to  carry  the  dirt  to  water.  Usu- 
ally there  was  little  systematic  work  done,  and  a  fewr  days, 
or  weeks,  at  most,  brought  a  reversal  of  sentiment  and  the 
average  gold  hunter  and  rainbow  chaser  had  left  the  coun- 
try before  the  winter  of  1902,  reporting  it  "no  good." 

Last  year  saw  a  continuation  of  the  development 
with,  good  results  in  every  instance  where  the  work  was  In- 
telligent and  careful,  and  sufficient  to  place  it  beyond  the 
assessment  condition. 

The  main  porphyry  field  extends  from  the  top  of  White 
Pass,  six  miles  south  of  Koosevelt,  on  both  sides  of  Monu- 
mental creek,  to  the  mouth  of  Holy  Terror  creek  six  miles 
below  the  town,  and  includes  Thunder  mountain  and  Rain- 
bow peak,  with  one  or  both  slopes  of  Marble  and  Cotton- 
wood  creeks  on  the  East  and  South,  Sugar  and  Tamarac 
creeks  to  the  West  of  Rainbow,  the  West  Fork,  and  well  up 
Snow  Slide  ridge  to  the  North.  This  embraces  in  the  main 
area  a  tract  about  twelve  miles  square,  of  which  fully 
twenty -five  per  cent,  (and  I  think  more)  is  porphyry  or 
quartz-porphyry.  There  are  other  small  porphyry  fields 
down  Monumental,  Marble  and  other  creeks. 

Within  the  area  described  extensive  development  has 
been  done  on  less  than  a  dozen  properties,  The  Sunnyside 
company  on  the  slope  of  Thunder  mountain  has  pursued  a 
plan  of  development  wise,  careful  and  systematic,  that  has 
been  productive  of  remarkable  results.  Within  about  two 
years,  by  working  perhaps  an  average  of  twenty-five  men, 
its  superintendent  gave  in  December  last  a  conservative 
estimate  that  there  was  fully  500,000  tons  of  ore  in  sight 
that  will  mill  from  $7.00  to  flO.OO  per  ton.  This  company 
is  now  working  250  men  and  is  installing  a  forty-stamp  mill 
with  overhead  tramway  about  a  mile  long,  and  will  soon 
be  a  producer  of  bullion.  The  cost  of  mining  and  milling 
is  estimated  at  below  $1.75  per  ton. 


42  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

The  Dewey  has  done  even  more  development  work. 
After  milling  ore  all  winter  with  its  ten-stamp  mill,  hav- 
ing no  delay  or  annoyance  from  ice  or  snow,  it  closed  down 
April  1st,  from  shortage  of  wood  supply.  Its  March  run 
produced  more  than  $20,000  gold  bullion  from  its  batteries 
and  plates. 

The  H.  Y.  management  commenced  development  on  the 
southwest  slope  of  Thunder  mountain  after  acquiring  the 
property  last  fall,  and  this  spring  in  the  face  of  its  tunnels 
after  going  200  and  300  feet  got  values  from  f  50.00  to  $70.00 
per  ton.  While  in  the  whole  length  of  the  tunnels  the 
values  had  averaged  $4.00  to  $6.00  per  ton. 

It  will  take  many  years  to  tell  the  story  of  the  extent 
of  the  pay  ore  bodies. 

The  above  are  samples  of  what  has  been  found  on  par- 
tial development.  In  such  a  large  field  showing  relative 
sameness  of  surface  values,  where  commencement  of  tunnel 
work  is  determined  by  the  relative  steepness  rather  than  by 
any  superior  surface  showing,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  pres- 
ent developments  include  all  the  good  ore  bodies  that  will 
be  uncovered.  It  is  the  general  expression  of  those  conver- 
sant with-  the  conditions,  that  the  present  companies'  great 
finds  will  be  duplicated  by  many  others,  and  even  richer 
fields  opened  as  the  work  of  exploration  goes  forward. 

The  developments  on  Rainbow  peak  have  not  been  so 
extensive  as  those  on  Thunder  mountain  proper,  but  the 
Fairview  developed  a  dike  about  forty  feet  wide,  nearly 
3,000  feet  in  length  which  is  reported  to  average  above  $8.00 
per  ton,  free  milling.  The  Toronto,  Gold  King,  First 
National,  Tripod  and  others  are  finding  good  ore  values  as 
the  work  progresses.  Very  good  values  are  reported  on 
Sugar  creek  and  Tamarac  creek  to  the  west  of  Rainbow, 
also  on  Divide,  Coney,  Four  Mile,  Lava,  Cornish  and  Cotton- 
wood  creeks  south  of  the  Monumental  and  Thunder  moun- 
tain, and  on  Trap,  Rainbow,  Botha,  Bonanza,  Sable  and 
southwest  fork  of  Monumental  to  the  north  of  that  stream. 
Active  developments  are  being  made  on  Big  and  Little  In- 
dian, Marble,  Holy  Terror,  Deer  and  Rush  creeks,  with  sat- 
isfactory results. 


IDAHO    AND    THUNDER    MOUNTAIN.  43 

The  Big  Creek  district  to  the  northwest  is  another  rich 
field,  receiving  much  attention,  and  showing  great  ledges  of 
free  and  base  ore  of  remarkable  size  and  richness. 

Following  are  expert  opinions: 

Hon.  M.  H.  Jacobs,  ex-state  mine  inspector,  who  has  fre- 
quently visited  the  district,  says — "The  time  has  gone  by 
when  anybody  of  however  doubtful  a  nature  he  may  be,  can 
say  that  the  mines  in  and  about  Thunder  mountain  are  not 
going  to  make  great  producers." 

Professor  D.  H.  Mead  in  a  report  to  the  Oregon  Short 
Line  Railway  Company,  says  in  part — "In  reply  to  your 
question  as  to  what  were  my  impressions  of  Thunder  moun- 
tain, will  say  that  it  is  an  immense  reef  of  rhyolite,  por- 
phyry and  breccia,  averaging  $6.50  per  ton,  in  such  great 
quantities  that  in  the  short  time  I  was  there  it  was  im- 
possible to  estimate  extent." 

This  relates  to  the  Dewey  property  which  at  present  is 
the  only  mine  where  any  great  development  is  being  done, 
but  enough  ore  shows  to  keep  a  hundred-stamp  mill 
going  indefinitely.  When  properly  equipped  ore  can  be  liter- 
ally quarried  out  on  the  same  principle  as  the  Homestake  in 
the  Black  hills  and  Treadwell  mines  of  Alaska.  An  unlim- 
ited electric  power  can  be  developed  on  Monumental  creek, 
a  distance  of  eight  miles  from  the  mines.  Timber  and  water 
are  in  abundance.  The  formation  of  the  ore  is  principally 
porphyry-rhyolite-trachyte  and  phonolite. 

Wiliam  Allen  White  says — "Gold  mines  and  gold  pros- 
pects on  Thunder  mountain  proper  are  located  in  porphyry 
reefs  and  intrusive  dikes  of  talc.  These  reefs  and  dikes 
occur  in  steep  dust-covered  hills,  soft  in  outline  and  about 
3,000  feet  above  the  gulches  about  them.  The  ores  are 
found  free  in  porphyry  or  talc,  with  little  quartz  and  few 
crystals.  It  is  a  comparatively  low  grade  ore,  but  is  found 
in  large  streaks  and  pockets,  and  seems  to  be  running  richer 
in  values  as  the  tunnels  go  in,  for  the  gold  appears  to  be 
coming  from  below  rather  than  to  be  a  sedimentary  de- 
posit." 

Professor  E.  J.  Conroy  of  Boise,  Idaho,  says — "Thunder 
mountain  is  a  vast  area  of  porphyritical  upheaval.  The  soft 


44  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

rocks  of  this  formation  have  been  scored  to  great  depths  by 
streams  draining  this  wide  area,  and  the  sides  of  the  canons 
are  very  precipitous.  It  would  seem  that  the  whole  area 
wTas  a  lake  bed,  and  some  violent  convulsion  of  nature 
caused  this  vast  upheaval  of  porphyry,  that  the  subsidence 
occurred  immediately  before  the  waters  had  receded,  and 
that  gold  had  been  disseminated  along  the  strike  of  the  vast 
dikes  of  porphyry,  enriching  areas  of  the  uplifted  rocks." 

Wiliam  E.  L.  Hame  says — "I  consider  the  formation 
identical  with  that  of  Cripple  Creek.  It  consists  of  rhyolite, 
intersected  by  phonolitic  intrusions.  The  greatest  values 
are  met  with  at  the  contact  of  the  dike  with  the  overlaying 
volcanic  breccia." 

I  quote  from  report  of  Charles  Raymond,  M.  E.,  of  Chi- 
cago— "One  remarkable  feature  in  regard  to  the  Thunder 
mountain  district  is  that  the  ore  bodies  throughout  the  dis- 
trict are  identical.  In  other  districts  ore  is  found  in  many 
different  forms.  While  work  has  been  carried  on  in  some 
of  the  leading  properties  to  the  depth  of  over  200  feet,  and 
cross-cut  tunnels  run  in  opposite  directions,  no  well  de- 
fined walls  have  yet  been  encountered,  going  to  prove  the 
assertion  often  made  that  Thunder  mountain  is  one  vast 
mountain  of  ore." 

These  gentlemen  reported  their  findings  eighteen 
months  to  two  years  ago. 

J.  M.  Venable,  a  well-known  mining  superintendent, 
who  has  spent  much  time  in  the  Thunder  mountain  district, 
and  given  careful  attention  to  the  occurrence  of  ore 
bodies  there,  holds  that  the  veins  do  not  crop  their  course, 
being  simply  indicated  by  changed  conditions  of  the  rhyo- 
lite or  porphyry.  Where  the  rhyolite  or  porphyry  shows 
quartz  crystals,  some  gold  is  met  with,  and  at  all  such 
points  where  the  surface  rock  has  been  cut  through,  ore 
bodies  have  been  found. 

Professor  E.  M.  Ray,  former  superintendent  of  Strat- 
ton's  Independence  mine  at  Cripple  Creek,  Colorado,  says  in 
part  in  a  recent  interview  in  the  Idaho  Statesman,  July 
14th,  after  his  third  visit  to  the  camp — "The  development 
assures  the  camp  a  place  among  the  richest  in  the  country. 


IDAHO    AND    THUNDER    MOUNTAIN.  45 

I  feel  justified  in  saying  so  much  as  that,  and  I  might  add 
that  in  my  opinion  the  district  is  likely  in  two  or  three 
years  to  be  better  than  Cripple  Creek  is  or  has  been." 

Of  the  general  mass  of  porphyry,  Mr.  Ray  said — "It 
averages  higher  than  the  ore  of  the  Treadwell  mine.  I  have 
taken  a  great  many  samples  and  find  the  average  some- 
where between  $2.75  and  |3.50.  It  is  absolutely  free  milling 
and  can  all  be  handled  at  a  good  profit  with  sufficient  mill- 
ing capacity. 

"The  great  feature  of  the  camp  next  to  the  size  of  the 
ore  bodies,"  Mr.  Ray  continued,  "is  that  the  ore  is  abso- 
lutely free  milling.  Plates  only  are  needed.  You  do  not 
have  to  have  concentrating  machinery  or  anything  else  be- 
yond the  batteries  and  plates.  There  is  no  base  in  the  ore,, 
and  the  values  can  all  be  saved  by  simple  amalgamation." 

More  than  likely  the  great  mass  of  ores  are  as  described 
by  Professor  Ray.  There  are  some  sulphides,  however,  in 
the  mysterious  Slide  group  adjoining  the  Dewey,  and  in  the 
tunnel  of  the  Dakota  claim  of  the  H.  Y.  group. 

Lack  of  transportation  has  been  a  serious  handicap  in 
development  of  the  district.  With  nearly  one  hundred  miles 
of  rough  trails  over  which  everything  had  to  be  packed, 
costing  from  six  cents  to  ten  cents  per  pound,  it  took  a  rich 
country  to  justify  the  expense  of  even  surface  prospecting. 

The  completion  of  the  wagon  road  now  assured  will 
revolutionize  former  conditions,  enabling  the  Thunder 
mountain  country  to  be  easily  reached  about  every  month 
of  the  year  and  contribute  largely  toward  opening  an  era  of 
prosperity  there,  whose  benefits  wTill  be  lasting  and  far- 
reaching. 


Address. 

BY   MR.   ELLIS   H.    ROBERTS,    DIRECTOR   UNITED    STATES   MINT. 

I  shall  detain  you  only  a  moment.  I  am  here  merely  as 
.a  casual,  though  interested,  spectator.  I  stopped  off  to 
.spend  a  day,  and  to  extend  a  word  of  greeting  and  good  will 
to  this  convention.  (Applause.)  I  am  just  returning  from  a 
short  tour  in  what  I  anticipate  will  become  one  of  the  most 
important  mining  districts  in  the  world — Alaska.  (Ap- 
plause.) The  hidden  and  marvelous  richess  of  that  country 
have  but  recently  been  revealed  only  in  part,  and  in  my 
judgment  are  now  only  faintly  appreciated;  but  from  this 
time  on  developments  may  be  expected  year  by  year. 
Thousands  of  hardy  prospectors  are  scattered  over  Alaska 
with  pick  and  shovel  and  pan,  and  in  spite  of  almost  in- 
conceivable obstacles  and  hardships,  are  opening  an  em- 
pire of  mineral  resources.  I  have  a  good  notion  to  put 
Alaska  in  nomination  for  permanent  headquarters  of  the 
American  Mining  Congress.  (Enthusiastic  applause). 
J  was  pleased  to  observe  that  this  body  has  cast  its  influence 
in  favor  of  generous  and  just  treatment  for  Alaska  (great 
applause).  I  have  never  been  predisposed  to  emphasize  the 
value  of  government  aid  for  this  or  that  locality,  or  this  or 
that  interest;  but  I  know  an  orphan  when  I  see  it,  and  I 
feel  that  Alaska  has  not  had  generous,  or  even  just,  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  the  general  government.  (Great  ap- 
plause). 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  simply  wish  to  bid  you  God  speed  in 
your  proceedings,  and  to  express  my  hope  that  the  results 
of  the  work  of  this  organization  may  be  of  great  value  to 
the  mining  industry.  I  thank  you  for  your  attention. 
{Great  applause). 


The  Influence  of  Mining  Men  for  Better  Roads. 

BY  JAMES  W.   ABBOTT,   SPECIAL  AGENT   ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  AND   PA- 
CIFIC COAST   DIVISION  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  PUBLIC  ROAD  IN- 
QUIRIES, U.   S.   DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE. 

While  everyone  in  a  general  way  recognizes  the  need 
for  better  roads,  the  enormous  importance  of  the  subject, 
as  an  economic  question,  is  not  yet  fully  comprehended. 

A  careful  investigation  of  the  statistics  shows  that  the 
cost  of  transporting  over  common  roads  of  the  United 
States  the  products  of  the  earth  and  soil  exceeds  the  sum  of 
one  billion  dollars  per  annum  and  is  greater  than  the  ag- 
gregate amount  paid  to  all  the  railroads  for  transporting 
freight. 

While  I  do  not  intend  to  repeat  much  of  what  I  said  in 
my  address  last  year  to  the  American  Mining  Congress,, 
there  are  certain  things  which  are  so  thoroughly  of  the  very 
essence  of  this  question  that  it  can  never  be  discussed  in  any 
of  its  phases  without  some  reference  being  made  to  them. 

The  European  nations  awoke  to  a  fairly  clear  concep- 
tion of  this  question  about  a  century  ago.  Koads  built  pri- 
marily from  military  necessity  proved  to  be  of  such  general 
and  far-reaching  value  that  a  system  of  national  highway 
improvement  was  entered  upon  both  in  England  and  on  the 
continent.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  relative  importance 
of  properly  constructed  highways  was  better  comprehended 
by  the  people  generally  of  the  United  States  a  century  ago 
than  it  is  to-day.  In  1802,  upon  the  admission  of  Ohio  into 
the  Union  a  law  was  enacted  by  Congress  setting  aside  five 
per  cent,  of  the  revenues  from  the  sale  of  public  lands  in 
that  state  to  build  highways  from  the  navigable  waters  of 
the  eastern  coast  to  and  through  Ohio,  two  per  cent,  to  be 
used  on  roads  without  the  state,  and  three  per  cent,  on  those 
within.  Under  this  law  about  seven  million  dollars  was  ap- 
propriated and  expended  in  building  a  great  national  high- 


48  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

way  which  was  known  as  the  old  Cumberland  road.  It  ex- 
tended from  tidewater  westerly  across  the  Alleghany  moun- 
tains through  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois, 
nearly  to  St.  Louis.  For  hundreds  of  miles  this  road  was 
built  nearly  in  a  straight  line  and  constructed  in  a  thor- 
oughly substantial  manner  and  after  the  most  approved 
methods.  Its  counterpart  does  not  exist  in  the  United 
States  to-day.  It  was  the  great  artery  of  that  time  from 
the  older  states  to  the  new  farms  and  cities  of  the  West 
and  played  a  very  important  part  in  the  growth  of  the  coun- 
try. 

In  Europe,  after  the  railroad  came,  it  and  the  com- 
mon road  developed  together.  The  relative  place  and  im- 
portance of  each  seemed  there  to  be  understood  but  in  this 
country,  with  the  development  of  our  railway  system,  caine 
neglect  and  disregard  of  the  highways. 

The  panic  of  1837  produced  such  financial  stringency 
that  Congress  was  compelled  to  retrench  expenditures  in 
all  directions.  It  stopped  appropriating  money  for  national 
highways  and  that  policy  has  never  been  resumed.  For  more 
than  fifty  years,  the  roads  of  the  country  were  left,  as  a 
rule,  to  take  care  of  themselves.  As  railroads  multiplied 
.and  improved  the  common  roads  grew  worse  and  worse. 

It  was  not  until  the  introduction  of  the  bicycle  that 
public  attention  was  directed  to  the  subject.  The  suffer- 
ings and  tortures  of  draft  animals  were  ignored.  The  losses 
were  neglected.  The  derision  which  our  muddy  roads  and 
thriftless  ways  excited  in  Europe  failed  to  make  any  im- 
pression upon  our  national  pride,  but  when  men  got 
astraddle  of  a  two  wheel  vehicle  and  actually  propelled  it 
with  their  own  legs,  they  discovered  that  something  was 
radically  wrong.  By  1892  it  was  estimated  that  the  number 
of  bic}fcles  in  the  United  States  had  increased  to  a  million 
.and  the  power  and  influence  of  their  organization,  The 
League  of  American  Wheelmen,  became  a  tremendous  na- 
tional force.  As  a  result  of  the  agitation  initiated  by  them, 
the  office  of  Public  Road  Inquiries  was  established  by  Con- 
gress in  1893  as  a  division  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture. Like  all  other  divisions  of  that  very  useful  depart- 


INFLUENCE  OF  MINING  MEN  FOR  BETTER  ROADS.  49 

ment  of  our  government,  its  functions  have  always  been 
purely  educational. 

Its  first  line  of  investigation  was  in  the  cost  of  wagon 
transportation  in  both  Europe  and  America.  From  a  com- 
prehensive series  of  inquiries  made  in  all  parts  of  the 
United  States,  it  was  found  that  the  average  cost  of  hauling 
a  ton  one  mile  upon  the  common  roads  of  this  country  was 
twenty-five  cents.  Through  the  reports  of  consuls  in  the 
principal  cities  of  Europe,  it  was  found  that  upon  the  im- 
proved roads  there  the  cost  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  10 
cents  per  ton  per  mile.  In  other  words,  we  in  the  United 
States  were  spending  two  and  one-half  times  as  much  to 
haul  over  our  common  roads  as  it  cost  our  European  neigh- 
bors to  haul  over  theirs. 

The  railroad  corporations,  long  ago,  came  to  under- 
stand that  it  was  good  business  to  cut  down  in  every  possi- 
ble way  the  cost  of  railway  transportation.  *In  my  address 
last  year,  I  referred  to  a  recent  report  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Central  Eailroad,  which  showed  that  that  far-sighted  and 
aggressive  corporation  had,  during  the  lifetime  of  a  single 
generation,  cut  down  the  cost  of  hauling  freight  over  their 
road  more  than  eighty  per  cent. 

Slowly,  but  surely,  the  people  of  the  United  States  are 
beginning  to  comprehend  the  magnitude  of  our  annual  loss 
under  existing  highway  conditions  and  to  consider  what  is 
to  be  done  to  improve  them.  The  most  distinct  gain  thus 
far  made  has  been  in  a  general  recognition  of  the  necessity 
for  co-operation  in  bearing  the  burden  of  cost. 

Koads  cost  money.  The  old  theory  was  that  each  indi- 
vidual community  must  bear  the  entire  cost  of  its  roads.  So 
long  as  that  prevailed  little  progress  could  be  made,  but  it 
is  coming  now  to  be  generally  understood  that  the  pros- 
perity which  follows  the  building  of  improved  roads  is 
shared  by  every  interest.  The  city  shares  with  the  country 
in  everything  that  makes  for  general  prosperity  or  general 
adversity. 

We  know  that  nothing  stimulates  industrial  activity  so 
certainly  as  the  building  of  improved  highways.  This- 
means  better  values  for  real  estate,  more  traffic  for  the  rail- 


50  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

roads,  more  demand  for  manufactured  goods,  more  employ- 
ment for  labor  and  more  money  for  everybody.  Where 
everyone  benefits,  everyone  should  contribute  in  fair  and 
equitable  ratio.  The  recognition  of  this  principle  has  led  to 
the  establishment  of  highway  commissions  in  each  of  the 
New  England  and  middle  States. 

New  Jersey  was  the  first  to  try  it.  After  the  bitterest 
opposition  and  resistance  for  years,  a  law  was  finally  passed 
appropriating  a  small  sum  of  money  from  the  state  treasury 
to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  a  highway  commis- 
sioner whose  office  was  created  for  the  purpose.  One  of  the 
conditions  imposed  was  that  for  every  dollar  of  state  funds 
thus  expended,  the  county  and  the  district  in  which  it  was 
spent  should  contribute  certain  definite  amounts. 

The  prophets  of  evil  all  predicted  that  the  plan  would 
fail;  that  the  counties  and  districts  would  not  contribute 
the  proportion  required  by  the  law  to  entitle  them  to  any  of 
the  state  fund.  Happily  their  prophesies  were  not  realized. 
The  plan  met  the  approval  of  the  people.  At  the  next  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature  the  pressure  for  a  larger  appropria- 
tion was  irresistible.  New  York  and  Massachusetts  fol- 
lowed along  the  same  lines  and  adopted  a  similar  policy. 
Co-operation  has  been  so  satisfactory  that  the  states  in 
which  this  plan  is  practiced  have  increased  their  appropri- 
ations, but  have  been  unable  to  keep  up  with  the  growing 
demands  from  the  communities.  Pennsylvania  recently  ap- 
propriated six  million  dollars  of  state  funds  to  be  used  in 
this  way.  New  York  state  is  planning  to  issue  bonds  for 
150,000,000. 

Co-operation  has  proven  the  key  to  the  situation.  The 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  all  are  benefited  by  improved 
highways  and  that  all  should  help  to  pay  for  them.  During 
the  past  two  years  there  has  been  a  very  rapidly  growing 
popular  demand  that  the  general  Government  should  come 
in  as  one  of  the  fac'tors  contributing.  .Bills  have  been  intro- 
duced into  both  houses  of  Congress  providing  for  the  appro- 
priation of  very  considerable  sums  of  money  from  the  na- 
tional treasury  to  be  apportioned  to  the  states  on  a  basis  of 
population  and  to  be  available  when  the  states  themselves 


INFLUENCE  OP  MINING  MEN  FOR  BETTER  ROADS.  51 

appropriate  sums  corresponding  to  their  respective  allot- 
ments. It  has  been  freely  predicted  during  the  past  few 
months  by  those  in  position  to  understand  what  the  people 
wish  that  this  principle  of  co-operation  will  soon  be  adopted 
as  an  important  feature  of  national  policy. 

This  principle  of  co-operation,  now  so  firmly  established 
and  so  rapidly  spreading,  is  by  no  means  limited  to  equit- 
able distribution  of  cost.  The  office  of  public  road  inquiries 
has  conducted  its  campaign  of  education  in  co-operation 
with  all  the  forces  which  it  could  join  for  work  in  this  great 
cause.  The  press,  quick  to  recognize  the  people's  needs,  the 
railroad  companies,  which  understood  the  relation  of  better 
roads  to  increased  traffic,  the  machinery  companies  which 
build  the  tools  for  making  roads,  have  joined  hands  in  the 
propaganda.  Commercial  bodies  all  over  the  country  are 
taking  it  up  and  bringing  their  influence  to  bear  on  officials 
and  legislators.  In  such  great  representative  gatherings 
as  the  American  Mining  Congress,  the  Trans-Mississippi 
Congress,  the  National  Irrigation  Congress,  it  is  now  one  of 
the  important  subjects  for  deliberation. 

But  important  as  is  this  great  economic  question  to  the 
farmer,  the  manufacturer,  the  merchant  and  the  railroad,  is 
there  any  interest  more  vitally  affected  than  mining?  More 
than  one-half  of  all  the  tonnage  carried  by  water  or  rail 
comes  from  the  mines.  It  is  estimated  that  of  the  entire 
products  of  earth,  soil  or  factory,  which  are  sold  in  this 
country,  at  least  niney-five  per  cent,  must  somewhere  be- 
tween production  and  consumption  pass  over  a  common 
road.  Upon  the  ordinary  unimproved  highway,  as  we  have 
seen,  it  costs  two  and  one-half  times  as  much  to  haul  in 
wagons  as  it  costs  on  the  improved  roads  of  Europe,  and 
that  proportion  has  been  found  to  hold  good  for  our  best 
roads  in  the  United  States. 

All  of  us  who  have  been  interested  in  mining  in  the  new 
camps  of  the  West  realize  the  distressing  waste  which  has 
attended  all  the  early  periods  in  their  history,  while  the 
roads  were  crude.  We  know  that  in  greater  or  less  degree 
these  adverse  conditions  still  prevail.  It  is  hard  to  get 
money  for  road  building  and  often  harder  still  to  get  it 


52  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

properly  expended.  The  need  is  great  for  missionary  work. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  good  which  the  mining 
men  of  this  country  could  accomplish  if  each  would  earn- 
estly do  his  best,  as  opportunity  affords,  to  stimulate  high- 
way improvement.  The  men  wrho  compose  this  Mining  Con- 
gress are  leaders  in  the  communities  where  they  live  and 
their  influence  is  potent  and  far  reaching. 

The  men  who  make  the  laws  and  those  who  execute 
them  all,  to  some  extent,  come  under  that  influence.  The 
press  which  moulds  public  opinion  listens  attentively  and 
respectfully  to  the  views  of  the  men  who  own  and  operate 
the  mines. 

Some  of  the  things  which  are  needed  and  which  mining 
men  can  help  to  bring  about  are: 

The  establishment  of  a  highway  commission  in  every 
state  and  the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  co-operation. 

The  education  of  public  sentiment  to  the  point  where  it 
shall  demand  of  every  candidate  for  a  legislative  office  that 
he  be  an  ardent  advocate  of  good  roads. 

A  clearer  general  conception  of  the  economic  problems 
involved,  so  that  it  may  be  understood  why  a  debt  incurred 
for  highway  improvement  really  produces  an  asset  and  not 
a  burden. 

An  earnest  purpose  in  each  locality  to  learn  how  to  get 
best  results  for  money  expended  and  avoid  wasting  it. 

A  careful  study  of  the  convict  question,  so  that  his  ac- 
tivities may  be  utilized  in  building  highways,  thus  removing 
him  from  disastrous  competition  with  free  labor,  and  uplift- 
ing the  convict  himself  morally  and  physically. 

These  are  some  ways  in  which  all  good  citizens  can  aid 
the  cause. 

There  is  a  line  of  research  for  which  the  technically 
trained  mining  man  is  specially  fitted.  Chemical  and  metal- 
lurgical investigations  are  going  to  reveal  facts  of  practical 
value  to  the  road  builder.  A  good  road  has  a  hard,  resilient 
surface  which  effectively  withstands  the  pressure  and  abra- 
sion of  wagon  wheels.  Some  day  I  believe  we  shall  know 
how  to  take  the  common  material  of  any  locality,  whether 
it  be  rock,  sand,  gravel  or  just  ordinary  soil,  and  readily 


INFLUENCE  OF  MINING  MEN  FOR  BETTER  ROADS.  53 

and  cheaply  make  out  of  it  a  good  road  covering.  Probably 
few  investigators  of  metallurgical  problems  will  have  op- 
portunity or  inclination  to  devote  their  energies  primarily 
to  road  questions,  but  an  understanding  of  the  need  for 
more  light  on  road  material  may  give  a  significance  to  lab- 
oratory results  which  might  otherwise  pass  unrecognized. 

The  miner  gives  us  the  iron  to  build  our  machinery, 
buildings,  bridges  and  ships,  the  fuel  that  keeps  us  warm 
and  furnishes  the  energy  to  drive  the  wheels  of  commerce, 
the  copper  that  transmits  from  brain  to  brain  around  the 
world  in  countless  messages  that  mysterious  force  that  we 
call  thought;  he  gives  us  the  gold  which  measures  the  value 
of  human  effort  and  every  material  thing.  Without  the 
miner's  aid  we  could  never  emerge  at  any  point  from  the 
primitive  condition  of  the  savage.  Isn't  it  entirely  natural 
that  we  should  look  to  him  for  help  in  solving  our  one  great 
still  unsolved  industrial  problem? 


The  Promoter  and  His  Place  in  Our  Development. 

BY  E.  BENJAMIN  ANDREWS,  CHANCELLOR    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF 

NEBRASKA. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Congress: 

When  I  noticed,  as  I  did  with  pleasure,  in  the  yesterday 
newspapers,  that  this  noble  Congress  was  opened  with 
prayer,  I  thought  how  appropriate  such  an  exercise  was  in 
view  of  the  many  relationships  which  might  be  cited  be- 
tween religion  and  the  interest  which  calls  us  together. 
Probably  the  oldest  notice  of  mining  in  all  literature  is  in 
Holy  Writ,  that  eloquent  passage  in  the  book  of  Job: 

"Surely  there  is  a  vein  for  the  silver  and  a  place  for  the 
gold  where  they  fine  it.  Iron  is  taken  out  of  the  earth  and 
brass  is  molten  out  of  the  stone.  ...  As  for  the  earth, 
out  of  it  cometh  bread,  and  under  it  is  turned  up,  as  it  were, 
fire.  The  stones  of  it  are  the  place  of  sapphires,  and  it  hath 
dust  of  gold.  There  is  a  path  (down  under  the  earth)  which 
no  fowl  knoweth  and  which  the  vulture's  eye  hath  not  seen. 
The  lion's  whelps  have  not  trodden  it  nor  the  fierce  lion 
passed  by  it.  He  (the  miner)  putteth  forth  his  hand  upon 
the  rock,  he  overturn eth  the  mountains,  by  the  roots.  He 
cutteth  out  rivers  among  the  rocks,  and  his  eye  seeth  every 
precio.us  thing.  He  bindeth  the  floods  from  overflowing, 
and  the  thing  that  is  hid  bringeth  he  forth  to  light. " — Job, 
chapter  28. 

In  our  day,  so  fine  has  grown  the  individualization  of 
men's  tasks,  that  promoting  has  become  a  profession  no  less 
than  engineering  or  journalism.  Like  the  poor,  the  promo- 
ter is  ever  with  us;  his  presence  is  among  the  most  familiar 
of  facts. 

Exactly  what  he  does,  however,  the  precise  sort  of  ac- 
tivity he  engages  in  to  make  him  a  promoter,  is  less  well 
known.  It  will  be  worth  while  to  describe  the  creature,  ind, 
if  we  can  keep  him  quiet  long  enough,  to  photograph  him, 
that  we  may  see  what  he  is  like  and  what  his  habits  are. 

Quite  generally  speaking,  the  promoter  is  the  man  who, 


THE  PROMOTER'S  PLACE  IN  OUR  DEVELOPMENT.  55 

acting  in  his  own  interest  and  not  in  the  employ  of  another, 
finds  out  new  ways  or  new  fields  for  the  probably  profitable 
use  of  capital,  and  then  gets  people  of  means  effectively 
interested  in  these  promising  chances.  But  you  would  be 
so  far  forth  a  promoter  if  you  did  but  one  of  these  things. 
Lesseps  was  a  promoter  in  putting  through  the  Suez  canal, 
although  the  certainty  of  huge  profit  from  such  a  canal  was 
no  new  thought  of  his,  but  the  commonplace  observation  of 
six  thousand  generations.  On  the  other  hand,  though  the 
promoter  need  not  be,  and  usually  is  not,  an  inventor  in  the 
technical  sense,  like  Eli  Whitney  or  Tesla,  his  most  import- 
ant office  lies  in  the  discovery  of  opportunity  rather  than  in 
the  directing  of  financial  attention  to  the  opportunity.  That 
steel  would  supplant  wood  and  iron  in  a  million  uses,  and 
do  this  permanently;  that  coal  oil  must  be  the  common  peo- 
ple's illuminant  for  years  and  years  in  every  civilized  coun- 
try;  that  judicious  combination,  taking  the  place  of  competi- 
tion, immensely  cheapens  production;  and  that  price-con- 
trol in  a  commodity  is  possible  without  dominating  the  en- 
tire output,  were  "promotory"  insights  of  the  first  orde1'. 

Having  ascertained  how  new  money  can  probably  be 
made,  and  having  created  and  organized  financial  interest 
in  his  project  on  the  part  of  wealth-owners  willing  to  invest, 
the  promoter  also,  as  a  rule,  performs  the  various  drudgery 
required  to  unite  these  investors  and  put  them  in  posses- 
sion and  control  of  the  proposition  waiting  to  be  exploited. 
If  a  new  railway  is  proposed,  he  institutes  the  corporation, 
negotiates  for  the  right  of  way,  and  performs  all  the  other 
initial  work  that  is  necessary  before  the  corporation  can 
practically  take  over  and  begin  utilizing  the  property.  If  a 
mining  scheme  is  in  view,  he  buys  options  on  the  land  need- 
ing to  be  controlled.  If  the  project  involves  or  consists  in 
the  merging  of  independent  industries  or  plants  under  one 
management,  he  secures  present  owners'  agreements  to 
enter  the  "combine"  or  sell  thereto  on  such  and  such  condi- 
tions. 

Thus  the  outlines  of  the  promoter's  trade  begin  to  be- 
come clear.  He  is  the  intermediary  between  capital  and 
new  investment  chances  created  or  discovered  by  him.  He 


56  PROCEEDINGS    AMERICAN    MINING   CONGRESS. 

may  actually  make  some  new  invention,  valuable  for  in- 
dustry, and  drum  up  financial  interest  therein.  Edison  has 
not,  I  believe,  prospectussed  any  of  his  inventions  with  a 
view  to  placing  them  upon  the  market;  but  it  is  quite  con- 
ceivable that  he  might  have  done  so.  Oftener  promotership 
consists  in  inventing,  or  at  any  rate  evolving  for  the  mar- 
ket, improved  methods  of  conducting  business,  as  new  forms 
of  advertising  or  of  bookkeeping,  ways  of  dealing  with  help 
or  material,  or  of  getting  goods  to  customers;  in  almost  any 
one  of  which  lines  novelties  might  be  introduced  so  momen- 
tous as  to  render  a  business  practically  a  new  thing.  The 
getting  up  of  a  successful  trust  would  illustrate,  besides 
much  else,  this  sort  of  promoting.  Wide  new  applications 
of  inventions  afford  fields  for  promotion  efforts,  as  when  the 
gas  engine  principle  is  availed  of  to  propel  road  cars.  A 
patent  commonly  finds  its  way  into  use  only  as  some  pro- 
moter takes  hold  of  it.  The  extension  of  old  industries  to 
new  fields  is  usually  promoter's  work,  as  the  building  of 
cotton  mills  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  the  start- 
ing of  iron  and  steel  manufactories  in  Alabama  and  Colo- 
rado. The  putting  of  materials  to  new  uses,  as  the  substi- 
tution of  oleomargarine  for  butter,  and  of  cotton  oil  for 
olive  oil,  is  frequently  a  form  of  promoting,  and  so  is  the 
opening,  for  any  product,  of  new  markets  within  the  coun- 
try or  beyond  the  sea. 

In  every  such  case  it  is  the  promoter  who  espies  the 
chance  for  gain,  patiently  calculates  its  possibilities,  de- 
scribes these  so  that  others  can  see  them  as  well  as  he;  gets 
a  "cinch"  on  them  by  the  purchase  of  land  options  or  other 
conditional  promises;  and  then  proceeds  to  enlist  the  needed 
money  support,  to  organize  this  into  a  corporation,  and  to 
set  the  corporation  on  its  feet  working  the  bonanza. 

It  will  render  still  more  definite  our  idea  of  what  the 
promoter  is,  to  notice  also  what  he  is  not. 

Promoters  often  join  together  in  firms,  as  lawyers  and 
engineers  do.  The  benefits  arising  from  such  union  are  in 
many  cases  great  and  patent.  But,  however  influential  and 
advantageous  the  firm  may  in  any  case  be,  the  promoter  is 
seldom  lost  in  his  firm. 


THE  PROMOTER'S  PLACE  IN  OUR  DEVELOPMENT.  57 

Again,  as  already  remarked,  the  promoter  may  or  may 
not  be  an  inventor,  and,  if  lie  is  an  inventor,  it  is  not  in  his 
character  as  an  inventor  that  he  acts  as  a  promoter.  Most 
commonly  the  man  who  markets  an  invention  is  not  the  in- 
ventor himself  but  a  professional  promoter,  who  may  know 
only  the  general  principles  which  the  invention  involves. 

In  like  manner  the  promoter  may  or  may  not  be  an  ex- 
pert at  the  business  he  is  seeking  to  launch.  If  he  happens 
to  be,  all  the  better,  probably;  yet  many  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful promoters  have  become  such  without  expert  know 
ledge  of  their  own,  depending  for  this  upon  engineers  and 
other  trained  agents,  whose  skill  and  services  they  could 
command  for  money. 

The  promoter  as  such  is  not  and  cannot  be  any  one's 
agent.  He  acts  on  his  own  hook.  Himself  is  the  interested 
party  to  all  he  does  and  promotes.  Till  launched  his  scheme 
is  his  and  his  alone.  Agents  and  employes,  armies  of  them, 
may  work  for  the  promoter,  many  of  them  knowing  details 
and  depths  of  his  undertaking  better  than  he  does,  making 
him,  it  may  be,  very  dependent  upon  them.  None  the  less, 
both  in  law  and  in  customary  speech,  the  party  funda- 
mentally interested  is  the  promoter,  not  any  one  or  ones 
among  his  working  staff  or  all  of  them  combined.  The  law 
is  very  insistent  on  this  point,  always  singling  out  some  one 
man  or  firm  as  the  responsible  promoter  of  any  novel  enter- 
prise, to  reap  the  profit  of  it  if  such  emerges,  or  to  bear  the 
blame  if  it  fails.  Alger.  The  Law  of  Promoters,  etc. 

The  underwriter  or  group  of  underwriters  advancing 
cash  for  the  proposed  undertaking  and  expecting  recoup- 
ment by  selling  the  new  corporations'  securities,  is  another 
entity  never  to  be  confused  with  the  promoter.  Underwrit- 
ing is  usually  indispensable  to  a  conversion  of  any  magni- 
tude. In  many  a  deal  the  underwriters  are  far  the  most 
prominent  factors,  their  profits  fabulous  and  their  names 
heard  and  published  though  the  promoter's  remains  un- 
known. Still,  their  office  and  even  their  service  is  wholly 
secondar}^,  and  they  would  never  have  been  called  in  or 
thought  of  had  not  the  promoter  pioneered  the  way  and 
made  the  dry  bones  live. 


58  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

The  view  is  nearly  as  common  as  it  is  erroneous,  that 
promoting  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  trusts,  as  if 
promoters  had  never  existed  before  trusts  came  to  be.  This 
is  an  entire  mistake,  as  pointed  out  in  great  detail  by  Mr. 
W.  G.  Langworthy  Taylor  in  the  Journal  of  Political  Eco- 
nomy for  June,  1904. 

Oakes  Ames  was  a  promoter,  if  ever  there  was  one. 
Commodore  Vanderbilt  wTas  a  promoter.  Our  earlier  rail- 
ways and  railway  combinations,  no  less  than  our  more  re- 
cent colossal  railway  systems,  were  born  of  promoter's  ef- 
forts. The  years  after  1870,  before  any  trust  had  appeared, 
bristled  with  promoter's  schemes — in  Europe  and  in 
America,  the  storm  being  central  in  Austria  and  Germany, 
where  a.  good  part  of  the  billion  dollar  French  war  indem- 
nity fund  sought  investment.  New  railways  were  built, 
banks  started,  mines  and  furnaces  opened,  and  factories 
erected;  but,  in  each  case,  or  at  least  as  a  rule,  the  project 
was  wholly  individual,  involving  new  organization,  large — 
often  fraudulent  capitalization,  fake  dividends,  and  the 
other  features  which  American  experience  has  since  made 
so  familiar,  but  not  embracing  any  combination  of  plants  or 
of  corporations.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  proportion  of  pro- 
moting to  total  business  was  as  great  in  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria 1870-75,  no  trust  yet  existing,  as  in  the  United  States 
1899-1903,  the  golden  age  of  trusts;  and  that  it  was  far  more 
reckless  and  disastrous  in  those  countries  then  than  it  has 
been  in  our  country  during  the  trust  years  just  past. 

It  is  now  in  order  to  raise  the  inquiry  which  my  ad- 
dress was,  I  presume,  expected  to  answer;  whether  the  pro- 
moter, whose  portrait  we  have  tried  to  outline,  is  a  producer 
or  a  parasite,  a  boon  or  a  burden.  Does  he  contribute  to 
the  social  pile  or  simply  help  pull  it  down,  after  we  of  the 
sweaty  brows  and  horny  hands  have  heaped  it  up?  Are  not 
dead  promoters  the  only  good  kind,  as  General  Sherman 
said  of  Indians?  Is  the  promoter  a  worthy  member  of  the 
body  politic  or  a  grafter?  Would  his  annihilation  be  a 
benediction,  to  be  hailed  with  hallelujahs  as  making  the  ma- 
jority of  us  better  off,  or  a  calamity,  tending  to  impoverish- 
ment? 


THE  PROMOTER'S  PLACE  IN  OUR  DEVELOPMENT.  59 

In  the  answer  to  this  question  will  lie  that  to  the  kin- 
dred one,  whether  the  promoter-function  is  destined  to  be 
permanent  in  industry;  for,  if  it  is  a  healthy  force  it  will 
continue,  while,  if  its  net  tendency  is  disadvantageous,  we 
shall  probably  find  some  means  of  getting  rid  of  it  and  of 
administering  industry  on  some  other  plan. 

I  am  going  to  face  those  questions  and  answer  them  the 
best  I  can.  Meantime  a  few  remarks  may  serve  to  pave  the 
way. 

Current  rage  against  promoters  is  in  great  measure 
simply  part  and  parcel  of  the  popular  hostility  felt  against 
all  the  wealthy.  This  hatred,  so  deep,  so  widespread,  so  in- 
tense even  to  savagery,  so  unreasoning  and  so  relentless,  I 
deem  the  most  dangerous  sign  of  our  time.  If  the  mob  alone 
felt  it,  this  brutish  antipathy  would  be  less  appalling;  but 
it  has  sympathy  and  support  in  all  classes,  even  among  the 
rich  themselves.  Hardly  a  newspaper  in  the  land  but  fre- 
quently gives  it  voice.  Pulpits  are  equally  intemperate. 

The  pity  is  that  this  gnashing  of  teeth  goes  on  against 
the  rich  as  such,  without  the  least  discrimination  between 
good  and  good-for-nothing.  When  distinction  is  made,  it 
nearly  always  favors  the  idle  rich,  especially  if  they  are 
generous,  against  the  energetic  and  creative  rich,  e.  g.,  Car- 
negie was  thought  little  of  till  he  retired  and  began  found- 
ing lilfraries.  This  zeal  of  his  I  commend,  but  the  man's 
main  benefaction  to  the  public  lay  in  the  business  he  built 
up.  Wealth  must  be  created  before  it  is  given  away. 

We  howl  down  alike  the  helpful  rich  and  the  harmful, 
the  industrious  and  the  lazy,  the  thrifty  and  the  spend- 
thrifty,  those  making  life  easier  for  all  and  those  making  it 
harder.  If  you  are  well-to-do  you  are  lashed  and  pilloried 
and  your  name  -cast  out  as  evil,  though  no  breath  of  fraud 
attaches  to  your  doings  and  your  whole  life  is  one  of  ardent 
philanthropy.  I  have  heard  it  said  soberly,  by  educated 
people  not  given  to  folly  in  most  things,  that  an  honest  mil- 
lionaire never  existed  and  never  can  exist,  on  the  alleged 
ground  that  honesty  and  great  wrealth  were  contradictory 
opposites.  What  wonder  that  less  well-informed  men  be- 
lieve this  insanity  and  preach  it  like  crusaders? 


60  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

The  promoter  is  supposed  to  get  rich;  he  is  therefore 
accursed  like  others  classed  as  rich.  He  is  in  with  Wall 
street.  He  has  helped  launch  trusts!  Away  with  such  a 
fellow  from  the  earth;  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should  live! 

Promoters'  unpopularity  at  the  present  time  is  largely 
due  to  the  fact  that  promoting  is  identified  in  the  public 
mind  with  the  operation  of  mammoth  corporations  and 
trusts,  all  whose  uncanny  doings  are  construed  as  so  many 
reproaches  to  promoters.  When  corporate  property  is  over- 
capitalized, when  stocks  are  watered,  when  dividends  are 
wrongfully  paid  or  wrongfully  passed,  when  small  stock- 
holders are  frozen  out  by  processes  calculated  to  increase 
the  plant's  value,  yet  at  the  very  same  time  cheapen  it  to 
nothing  for  the  favored  few;  or  when  men  suppose  that  any 
of  these  evils  are  proceeding,  the  promoter  is  every  one's 
favorite  rascal;  people's  speech  being  all  to  the  effect  that  if 
he  could  be  placed  on  the  mortuary  list  all  sorts  of  felicity 
would  be  assured  the  rest  of  us. 

Enlarging  capitalization,  stock  watering,  and  passing 
dividends  to  the  discouragement  of  impecunious  holders  of 
stock,  are  all  at  times  legitimate  and  necessary;  but  alike 
when  they  are  right  and  when  they  are  wrong  they  are  the 
deeds  of  the  corporation,  not  of  any  promoter. 

No  doubt  a  promoter  may  do  much  to  shape  the  course 
of  a  corporation  by  him  created.  In  "Frenzied  Finance," 
Everybody's  Magazine,  August  1904,  page  155,  T.  W.  Law- 
son  represents  it  as  a  crime  that  the  Amalgamated  dividend 
was  cut  (late  in  '91  or  in  '92),  "without  warning  and  in  open 
defiance  of  the  absolute  pledges  of  its  creators."  Unless  the 
money  saved  was  stolen,  or  the  stock  "beared"  for  specula- 
tive purposes,  it  does  not  appear  that  this  cut  was,  at  worst, 
more  than  an  indiscretion,  as  the  saving  could  not  but  make 
the  concern  the  stronger.  So  of  the  first  passing  of  dividend 
in  United  States  Steel  common.  It  created  a  great  howl, 
but  is  now,  I  think,  generally  admitted  to  have  been  the 
only  wise  course. 

Lawson  deems  it  nefarious  that  H.  H.  Kogers,  Wm. 
Rockefeller  and  Jas.  Stillman  let  various  parties  who  be- 
came interested  in  Amalgamated  during  the  earlier  stages 


THE  PROMOTER'S  PLACE  IN  OUR  DEVELOPMENT.  61 

of  the  formation  of  the  company  suppose  that  they  (these 
others)  occupied  the  ground  floor;  "when  in  fact,  there  was 
a  cellar  underneath  their  floor,  a  vault  beneath  the  cellar,  a 
mine  beneath  the  vault,  and  a  secret  chamber  under  the 
mine,  the  three  parties  named  being  all  the  while  the  sole 
occupants  of  this  secret  chamber." 

Law  son's  account  does  not,  on  its  face,  bear  out  his  in- 
dictment, which  may,  for  aught  I  know,  be  just  after  all. 
Did  Rogers  et.  al.  lie  to  the  other  parties?  Did  these  parties 
pay  for  their  interests  more  than  said  interests  \vere  worth? 
Did  the  promoters  represent  the  property  as  more  valuable 
than  it  bade  fair  to  be?  The  fact  that  the  public  scrambled 
for  the  shares  and  paid  three  times  too  much  for  them,  is . 
not,  by  itself  proof  of  anyone's  fraud. 

The  promoter  may  even  be  a  member  of  a  corporation 
and,  as  such  be  still  further  instrumental.  In  such  cases 
there  may  be  ground  for  censuring  him,  with  others,  for  the 
corporation's  misdeeds.  After  all  this  is  said,  however,  the 
evils  complained  of  are  in  general  not  the  promoter's  work, 
and  he  should  not  be  cursed  on  account  of  them. 

Beyond  all  doubt,  though,  there  are  culpable  and  crim- 
inal promoters,  who  deserve  all  the  maledictions  they  get. 
Only  we  ought  not  to  reprobate  the  whole  flock  for  the  mis- 
deeds of  a  few  black  sheep. 

An  unscrupulous  promoter  may  proceed  from  the  very 
tirst  on  a  basis  of  lies,  exploiting  the  gullibility  of  the  ig- 
norant public,  with  all  the  guilt  of  a  bunco-steerer  or  any 
confidence  man.  His  prospectus  paints  up  Sahara  to  be  a 
flower-garden.  The  mine  to  be  opened  is  in  the  same  county 
with  a  bonanza.  Our  well  is  within  gunshot  of  a  world-fa- 
mous gusher.  Some  "professor"  testifies  to  a  belief  that  the 
same  strata,  only  probably  far  richer,  pass  under  our  land. 
One  man  near  our  opening,  who  began  last  year  as  a  grub- 
sUker.  is  now  a  millionaire.  Another  has  his  cabin  literally 
full  of  ore  sacks  awaiting  transportation  to  the  smelter;  ex- 
perts think  his  pile  worth  at  least  $500,000.  These  and  ever 
so  many  others  have  got  rich  quick;  why  should  not  you? 
Stock  in  the  new  company  is  selling  fast,  but  as  we  wish  to 
favor  you,  a  block  or  two  will  be  specially  reserved  for  you 


62  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

till  (early  next  week.  If  you  cannot  possibly  raise  the  money 
meantime  by  mortgaging  yonr  home,  pray  let  Tits  know  at 
once  as  so  many  are  walking  the  floor  to  get  your  chance. 

The  ease  with  which  money  can  be  raised  on  such  rep- 
resentations would  be  comical  if  it  were  not  tragical  and 
tragical  if  it  were  not  comical.  "A  minister  or  a  physician 
has  &  few  thousands  laid  by,  a  woman  has  either  saved  or 
inherited  a  small  amount,  a  workman  or  a  farmer  has  man- 
aged to  scrape  together  something  for  a  rainy  day.  Such 
people  are  found  by  the  thousands  in  every  part  of  the  coun- 
try. From  their  accumulations  they  draw  a  small  rate  of 
return,  often  so  small  that  they  are  constrained  to  add  it  to 
the  principal,  and  ao  not  venture  to  apply  it  to  expenditure. 
Four  or  live  per  cent,  clear  gain  is  about  all  that  can  be  ex- 
pected. Their  lives  are  hard,  monotonous  and  barren.  Be- 
fore their  eyes  is  constantly  flaunted  the  luxurious  extrav- 
agance of  the  wealthy  leisure  class.  To  such  people  the 
prospectus  of  a  new  enterprise  is  wonderfully  attractive.  In 
exchange  for  a  few  thousands  it  offers  them  a  fortune.  The 
offer  dazzles  them.  Their  desires  benumb  their  judgment, 
The  risk  of  the  undertaking  is  forgotten.  Few  of  those  who 
put  their  money  into  a  speculative  scheme  enter  it  with  the 
thought  of  risk.  The  calm  balancing  of  chances  is  the  exer- 
ercise  of  a.  superior  order  of  mind.  The  speculator  does  not 
buy  a  chance,  he  buys  what  he  thinks  is  a  fortune.  He  has 
had  a  vision  of  a  vein  of  ore  or  a  great  reservoir  of  oil.  He 
has  seen  a  populous  town  arise  around  the  factory  in  which 
he  has  invested.  He  has  forsaken  the  difficult  paths  of 
reason  for  the  flowery  fields  of  imagination  and  conjec- 
ture." E.  S.  Meade.  "Trust  Finance."  136.  In  this  way 
many  millions  yearly  pass  from  the  pockets  of  the  poor 
into  the  tills  of  unscrupulous  promoters. 

In  another  class  of  cases  the  fraud  worked  by  promo- 
ters is  less  complete.  The  promoter  knows  that  he  is  offer- 
ing a  valuable  opportunity,  and  is  justified  in  so  represent- 
ing; but  he  deliberately  takes  advantage  of  this  fact  to 
market  a  scandalous  over-capitalization,  in  consequence  of 
whicli,  after  running  gaily  a  little  while,  the  enterprise 
must  fail  entirely  or  be  reorganized  by  bond-holders,  stock- 


THE  PROMOTER'S  PLACE  IN  OUR  DEVELOPMENT.      63 

holders  losing  all.  Such  disasters  were  common  in  Austria 
and  Germany  after  1870.  A  plant  costing  say,  100,000 
marks  would  be  got  in  hand  for  500,000,  and  then  capital- 
ized by  a  stock  company  for  two  or  three  millions.  For  a 
time  demand  and  prices  were  artificially  boomed  and  high 
dividends  paid.  Then  came  depression,  the  passing  of  divi- 
dends after  dividends,  stock  at  zero,  and  crash.  Glagau, 
Borsen  and  Grundung-Schwindel  in  Deutschland,  114. 

"On  May  8  and  9,  1873,  the  Vienna  bourse  witnessed 
a  reign  of  terror.  There  were  scenes  as  tumultuous  as  those 
of  a  revolution.  The  keynote  of  those  days  was  the  rapid, 
headlong  depreciation  of  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
securities  listed.  Business  on  the  exchange  completely 
stopped.  Chaos  reigned.  Despair  took  possession  of  the 
speculators.  On  the, day  of  the  great  crash  many  of  the 
curbstone  brokers  seized  the  highly  respectable  "closet" 
bankers  by  the  throat  and  shrieked  with  dying  despair  for 
the  return  of  their  all,  whereof  the  promoters  had  robbed 
them.  Others,  the  sense  of  their  horrible  ruin  bereft  of  rea- 
son and  they  sought  in  suicide  an  end  of  their  misery." 
Wirth,  Handelskrisen  520.  The  years  following  the  Crisis 
of  1873  saw  a  perfect  avalanche  of  suicides.  Taylor,  in  the 
article  named  above,  395.  He  refers  for  the  statement  to 
Neumann-Spallart,  Uebersichten  der  Weltvirtschaft.  Vol. 
III.,  56. 

In  a  third  class  of  cases  promoters  have  made  careful 
provision  for  the  survival  of  the  enterprise  and  for  returns 
upon  its  preferred  stock,  but  have  been  guilty  of  criminal 
or  at  least  highly  reprehensible  negligence  touching  the  fate 
of  the  common  stock;  subscriptions  for  which  were  never- 
theless zealously  solicited,  in  fact,  had  to  be  obtained  in 
order  to  the  success  of  the  flotation.  Some  recent  instances 
of  trust  financing  in  the  United  States  seem  to  me  to  betray 
literal  malice  aforethought  toward  common  stock  pur- 
chasers— the  deliberate,  cold-blooded  purpose  to  make  them 
stand  and  deliver.  Meade,  346. 

It  should  be  added  forthwith  that  promoters  hardly 
ever  perpetrate  these  nefarious  designs  alone.  They  are 
aided  by  underwriters,  equally  guilty  with  themselves,  in 


64  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

cases,  more  guilty,  occupying  positions,  as  bankers,  which 
enable  them  to  beguile  the  unreflecting  public  as  promoters 
could  not.  For  those  losses  upon  the  stocks  of  promoted 
concerns  of  which  the  American  public  has  heard  so  much 
during  the  last  three  years,  promoters  have  been  much  less 
responsible  than  underwriters.  No  respectable  banker  has 
the  right  to  enlist  in  the  underwriting  of  a  scheme,  lending 
to  it  the  sanction  of  his  name,  until  he  has  caused  the  same 
to  be  thoroughly  investigated,  satisfying  his  honest  judg- 
ment that  it  is  at  the  very  least  no  swindle. 

Eeckless,  riotous  overcapitalization  by  famous  pro- 
moters and  underwriters  in  a  few  notorious  cases  aired 
since  1900,  has  done  more  than  all  other  causes  in  America 
to  smirch  the  whole  business  of  promoting,  to  make  people 
feel  that  the  only  good  promoter  is  the  dead  one.  T.  W. 
Lawson,  in  Everybody's  Magazine  for  August,  1904,  de- 
clares that  the  Amalgamated  Copper  Company  has  "been 
responsible  for  more  hell  than  any  other  trust  or  financial 
thing  since  the  world  began."  Its  1,550,000  shares,  par  f  100 
averaged  to  sell,  he  says,  at  $115,  i.  e.,  at  $15  apiece  above 
par.  In  1903  the  price  had  declined  to  $33.  (p.  154.) 

Mr.  E.  S.  Meade  (375)  has  shown  that  this  frenzied 
finance  of  overcapitalization  might  have  been  prevented  by 
proper  national  legislation,  forbidding  any  interstate  corpo- 
ration to  pay  in  dividends  more  than,  say,  a  fourth  or  a 
third  of  its  profits  until  a  certain  goodly  reserve  had  been 
piled  up;  in  other  words,  compelling  more  care  for  stability 
and  less  for  immediate  profits.  Such  a  law  w^ould  force  pro- 
moters to  act  more  soberly,  discourage  overcapitalization, 
keep  rickety  propositions  off  the  market,  and  render  new 
enterprises  from  the  first  investors'  instead  of  speculators' 
affairs.  It  would  make  promoting  less  giddy,  more  safe  and 
more  popular,  and  it  would  deliver  the  promoter  from  a 
great  part  of  the  odium  under  which,  now,  he  partly  rests 
and  partly  squirms. 

Besides  reducing  the  frenzy  of  high  finance,  a  United 
States  law  insisting  that  each  new  corporation  doing  busi- 
ness across  state  lines  begin  by  accumulating  a  goodly  re- 
serve without  regard  to  its  early  dividends,  would  produce 


THE  PROMOTER'S  PLACE  IN  OUR  DEVELOPMENT.      65- 

a  number  of  other  most  benign  results.  It  would :  1. — Drive 
speculating  as  contrasted  with  investing  promoters  and 
underwriters  out  of  the  business.  2. — Decrease  mere 
gambling  speculation  and  adventures  on  margins.  3. — As- 
suage the  unfortunate  public  hostility  toward  large  corpo- 
rations and  trusts.  4. — Multiply  the  number  and  lower  the 
price  of  safe  investments,  bringing  such  within  the  reach  of 
a  greater  number  of  citizens.  5.- — Increase  the  rate  of  re- 
turn on  moneys  safely  invested,  producing,  among  many 
other  benign  results,  a  lowering  of  insurance  rates  and  a 
rise  in  those  paid  by  institutions  for  savings.  Meade  358. 

Coming  back  at  last  to  the  question  whether  the  pro- 
moter is  a  tare  in  the  industrial  field,  to  be  rooted  up  and 
cast  into  the  fire,  or  a  useful  plant,  to  be  cherished  and  culti- 
vated, we  find  the  answer  to  a  considerable  extent  antici- 
pated by  the  discussion  which  has  preceded. 

There  are  corrupt  promoters,  who  ought  to  be  in 
prison,  and  there  are  valuable  promoters  some  of  whose 
doings  will  not  stand  scrutiny  in  detail.  The  essential  func- 
tion of  promoting  is,  however,  a  valid,  important,  vital  and 
indispensable  one  in  modern  industry,  which  the  majority 
of  promoters  probably  endeavor  to  exercise  in  good  faithr 
with  no  greater  selfishness  or  rapacity  than  characterizes 
business  men  generally.  The  criminal  promoter  ought  to  be 
imprisoned,  and  the  purely  speculative  promoter  ought  to 
be  either  won  or  driven  from  speculative  to  sober  methods; 
while  the  honest  and  sane  promoter,  being  an  invaluable 
agent  of  civilization,  should  be  encouraged  to  proceed  with 
his  excellent  work,  lacking  which  the  business  world  could 
make  no  progress  even  if  it  managed  to  keep  going. 

On  every  hand  exist  the  most  promising  chances  for 
the  creation  of  new  wealth.  Waterfalls  wait  to  be  har- 
nessed. The  electric  railway  is  as  yet  in  the  earliest  infancy 
of  its  development.  All  over  our  country  it  will  swell  the 
size  of  cities  and  make  passage  between  them  a  hundred- 
fold commoner.  It  will  extend  to  suburbs  and  to  far  coun- 
try parts  the  essential  advantages  of  city  life.  Infinite  new 
lines  of  standard  railway  will  be  required.  Saving  in  all 
sorts  of  building  enterprises  will  be  effected.  Shipbuilding,- 


•66  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

and  ocean  carrying  will  again  be  great  American  indus- 
tries. Agriculture  will  be  revolutionized  and  made  to  take 
on  generally  the  scientific  character  it  has  here  and  there 
begun  to  assume.  Innumerable  new  inventions  and  dis- 
coveries having  industrial  value  may  be  confidently 
looked  for. 

The  mining  resources  of  the  country  are  as  naught  to 
what  they  are  destined  speedily  to  become.  Gentlemen, 
with  all  your  grub-staking,  prospecting  and  boring,  you 
know  almost  nothing  of  the  wealth  the  Kocky  mountains 
conceal.  No.  "X"  rays  yet  devised  are  able  to  telltale  those 
measureless  depths.  I  venture  to  believe  that  all  the  valu- 
able metals  exist  there,  within  reachable  distances,  in 
amounts  beyond  our  most  liberal  calculations  or  even  our 
wildest  dreams. 

.  I  used  to  be  among  those  who  thought  that  the  earth's 
gold  yield  was  approaching  exhaustion.  The  Band,  Daw- 
son,  Nome,  and  the  unexpected  proficiency  of  Colorado  and 
California  mines  have  taught  us  the  mistakenness  of  that 
view,  which,  it  now  seems  to  me,  we  were  foolish  ever  to 
have  entertained  even  without  these  revelations.  No  good 
reason  has  to  my  knowledge  been  advanced  for  doubting 
that  the  unexplored  parts  of  Siberia,  the  Himalayas,  Africa 
and  South  and  Central  America,  will  ultimately  produce 
gold  as  copiously  as  Alaska  is  doing. 

Criticise  Leonard  Courtney's  recent  article.  His  essen- 
tial seems  to  lie  in  ignoring  the  fact  that  prices  are  steadier 
the  greater  the  world's  reservoir  of  fundamental  money  is, 
including,  of  course,  both  coin  reserves  and  coinable  bul- 
lion. Gold  mining  is  not,  therefore,  for  the  world's  wealth 
any  more  than  for  that  of  the  thrifty  miner,  a  losing  busi- 
ness. 

It  is  of  consequence  for  all,  and  most  vitally  for  the 
common  man  and  the  poor,  that  these  chances  for  new 
wealth-making  should  be  found  out  and  developed.  Our 
country  is  not  too  rich,  but  far  too  poor.  All  increase  of 
wealth  is  a  public  and  general  blessing.  It  is  this,  into 
whosesoever  hands  the  new  wealth  falls,  since  those  who 
get  the  title  to  new  wealth  and  become  its  owners  cannot 


THE  PROMOTER'S  PLACE  IN  OUR  DEVELOPMENT.  6T 

take  a  single  step  toward  the  utilization    of    it    without 
sharing  it  with  the  rest  of  us. 

I  do  not  say  that  it  makes  no  difference  how  the  titles 
to  the  wealth  of  a  community  are  distributed,  that  a  coun- 
try with  innumerable  millionaires  will  show  as  high  a  level 
of  general  welfare  as  one  equally  wealthy  whose  wealth  is 
more  widely  scattered.  Other  things  being  equal,  it  is  no 
doubt  best  that  a  nation's  resources  should  be  owned  by 
very  many  and  not  by  very  few.  But  I  do  maintain  and  de- 
clare that,  after  all,  the  main  thing  is  the  piling  up  of 
wealth.  If  little  wealth  exists  most  of  us  must  be  wretched; 
whereas,  if  wealth  is  immense,  however  it  is  owned,  all  but 
the  idle  will  be  benefitted  by  it. 

But  the  wealth-chances  referred  to  will  not  be  turned 
to  realities  unless  by  professional  promoters.  Others  are 
too  busy  or  too  apathetic  to  attend  to  them.  Usually  it 
takes  the  keen,  the  trained,  the  practiced  eye  to  ferret  out 
the  chance  and  even  if  the  chance  is  patent  to  all,  facilities, 
for  realizing  upon  it — reputation  for  honesty,  energy,  sa- 
gacity and  attention  to  details,  skill  in  using  experts  and  in 
approaching  and  handling  men,  access  to  banking  and  rail- 
way authorities,  and  so  on — belong  only  to  such  as  have 
sedulously  and  laborously  acquired  them.  It  is  not  by 
mere  hap  that  business  pioneering  has  fallen  into  the  pro- 
moter's hands.  The  craft  is  a  necessary  and  benevolent 
product  of  business  evolution. 

Moreover,  the  good  promoter  is  in  it  to  stay.  His  func- 
tion is  not  a  temporary  one,  but  permanent.  The  need  of 
him  will  not  diminish  but  grow  ever  greater  as  industry 
widens  out  its  domain  on  the  one  hand  and  multiplies  its, 
details  and  its  complexity  on  the  other. 

.Well,  then,  granting  that  promoting  is,  on  the  whole, 
a  public  benefit,  and  that  honest  promoters  will  and  ought 
to  remain,  fulfilling  their  wholesome  and  advantageous 
office,  is  there  any  hope  that  promoting  of  the  vicious  and 
criminal  sort  will,  in  the  course  of  time  diminish? 

Approaching  a  reply  to  this  question,  I  remark  that 
no  time  is  at  present  in  sight  when  it  will  do  to  be  off  our 
guard.  We,  the  dear  people,  must  reform  of  our  liking  to  be 


€8  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

humbugged.  So  long  as  the  world  is  full  of  fools,  cheating 
of  all  sorts  will  abound  and  the  conscienceless  promoter 
will  have  his  loot.  Meade  373,  363. 

While  we  cannot  too  vehemently  reprehend  all  dishon- 
est promoting  and  underwriting,  and  while  laws  and  public 
opinion  should  be  used  to  the  utmost  toward  suppressing 
those  dark  practices,  people  must,  after  all,  in  the  last 
analysis  depend  on  themselves,  their  own  insight,  common 
sense  and  sagacity,  to  prevent  being  plucked  by  cormorants 
of  these  classes.  After  the  lessons  of  past  years,  adults 
who  lose  by  being  drawn  into  unseaworthy  schemes,  should 
be- ashamed  to  plead  the  baby  act. 

Besides  judicious  legislation,  besides  the  needful 
education  of  the  investing  public,  teaching  us  to  be 
more  wary  in  the  face  of  hoaxes,  less  gullible,  less  anxious 
to  get  something  for  nothing — I  expect  much  from  that  slow 
but  sure  moral  amelioration  of  men  which  I  believe  to  be 
going  on,  assuaging  not  the  quest  of  wealth,  which,  if  the 
motive  is  good,  is  entirely  consonant  with  the  highest  vir- 
tue; but  lessening  the  desire  of  wealth  as  an  end 
and  rendering  the  cunning  and  crafty  less  ready 
to  take  advantage.  I  do  not  speak  of  the  millen- 
nium. In  a  day  much  nearer  than  that,  it 
shall,  to  all  but  the  very  basest,  seem  better  that  a  man 
act  in  all  things  with  scrupulous  justice,  dealing  to  each  his 
due,  and  helping  to  build  high  the  pile  of  social  and  general 
wealth,  than  that  he  scheme  to  best  his  fellows  at  any  cost, 
in  order  to  live  in  a  great  house,  ride  in  a  private  car,  sail  a 
yacht,  and  rot  when  dead  under  an  immense  pile  of  marble. 


The  Investor  in  Mines. 

BY  F.  WALLACE  WHITE,  CLEVELAND,  OHIO. 

The  daring  spirit  of  the  investor  in  mining  has  enabled 
America  to  lead  all  other  countries  in  its  material  progress, 
and  it  is  further  a  well-known  fact  that  a  large  share  of 
this  progress  has  been  brought  about  by  the  efforts  of  that 
class  known  as  promoters. 

What  then  of  the  promoter  and  his  relation  to  the  in- 
vestor in  mines  as  well  as  to  the  mining  industry?  Is  there 
a  single  person  within  the  hearing  of  my  voice  who  will  not 
agree  with  me  that  to  the  daring  of  some  promoter  belongs 
the  creation  of  nearly  all  the  great  progress  of  the  western 
half  of  America?  Who,  but  a  daring  promoter  was  it  that 
conceived  the  plan  of  building  the  Central  Pacific  and 
Union  Pacific  railroads  across  the  continent?  Who,  but 
promoters  have  brought  the  capitalists  and  mines  together 
in  a  bond  of  profitable  undertaking? 

The  increase  in  production  of  our  mineral  wealth  has 
been  something  enormous,  as  is  best  evidenced  when  we 
compare  the  production  of  1898,  which  was  f 370,000,000 
with  the  production  of  1903,  which  was  over  a  billion  of  dol- 
lars. 

The  immense  influence  wielded  by  the  mining  industry 
is  recognized  by  but  few.  That  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations 
and  empires  ever  depended  upon  the  output  of  mines  may 
seem,  to  many,  at  first  thought,  untrue  but  investigation 
into  the  past  history  of  man  himself  and  his  civic  govern- 
ments will  substantiate  this  statement. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  civilization  flourished  so  early 
in  Egypt  wras  because  the  Egyptians  early  learned  the  art  of 
metallurgy.  They  worked  copper  prior  to  the  building  of 
the  great  pyramids,  some  6,000  years  ago.  According  to 
Diodorus,  who  lived  1,400  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ, 
the  great  mines  of  Nubia  annually  yielded  bullion  to  the 
value  of  1650,000,000,  and  Egypt  was  for  many  years  the 


70  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

mecca  for  innumerable  caravans  that  converged  thither 
from  all  Asia. 

The  gold  of  Lydia,  the  silver  mines  of  Greece,  the  gold 
mines  of  Macedonia,  the  sulphur  and  quicksilver  mines  of 
Spain,  and  the  silver  mines  of  the  Hartz  mountains,  Ger- 
many, have  exerted  an  irresistible  influence  on  the  history 
of  Europe  and  Asia,  affecting  commerce  and  politics. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  in  1848,  is  within 
the  memory  of  the  present  generation.  The  tremendous 
influence  that  discovery  has  exerted  upon  the  political  and 
economic  development  of  the  United  States,  is  plainly  mani- 
fest on  every  hand.  Up  to  that  time  the  United  States  had 
been  poor,  its  credit  weak,  and  its  resources  undeveloped. 
It  is  true,  previous  to  that  time  there  had  been  some  mining 
in  the  United  States,  probably  a  total  of  half  a  million  dol- 
lars a  year  would  have  covered  the  entire  output,  but  with 
the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  an  impetus  was  given, 
not  only  to  mining,  but  to  all  other  branches  of  industry. 

From  a  nation  of  borrowers  we  have  become  a  nation 
of  investors. 

The  combinations  of  the  investments  of  the  many  have 
rendered  possible  greater  mining  enterprises,  adding  to  the 
truth  of  the  old  saying:  "There  is  that  which  scattereth,  yet 
increaseth."  Mining  along  legitimate  lines  has  become  the 
great  modern  missionary,  the  bulwark  of  national  progress 
and  commercial  supremacy;  has  opened  the  wilderness  and 
the  desert  plains,  built  great  cities  arid  added  refinement 
and  civilization  to  places  where  there  was  savagery  and  des- 
olation. It  has  contributed  more  than  any  other  industry 
to  make  the  United  States  the  wealthiest  government  in  the 
world,  and  this  has  been  brought  about  to  a  large  extent  by 
many  small  investments  of  the  masses  in  legitimate  mining 
propositions. 

In  the  words  of  Mr.  Mahon,  the  worthy  secretary  of  this 
congress: 

"The  mining  industry  of  America  needs  no  apology 
from  those  seeking  recognition  for  it  at  the  hands  of  the 
Government.  To  this,  more  than  to  any  other  cause,  this 


THE   INVESTOR  IX    MINES.  71 

country  can  attribute  its  wonderful  strides  and  its  prestige 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth." 

The  production  of  more  than  a  billion  dollars  of  min- 
eral wealth  in  a  single  year  means  much  to  the  business  of 
this  country,  especially  when  all  this  wealth  is  entirely  new 
with  absolutely  nothing  of  a  fictitious  character  about  it. 

I  believe  in  the  recent  expression  of  Mr.  John  Hayes 
Hammond,  that: 

"There  is  a  tendency  to  carry  on  mining  operations  on 
a  larger  scale  than  ever  before,  Syndicates  and  companies 
with  larger  capital  at  their  disposal  are  entering  the  field. 
Capital  is  beginning  to  recognize  the  fact  that  the  mining 
industry  is  now  being  prosecuted  on  a  more  scientific  basis 
than  at  any  time  in  the  history  of  its  development.  Its  at- 
tractiveness as  an  investment  is  more  seriously  considered 
and  is  not  regarded  as  a  gamble.  Mining  engineers  and 
mining  investors  have  more  regard  for  the  commercial 
aspect  of  mining  as  conducted  to-day  than  formerly." 

Conditions  warrant  the  assertion  that  the  mining  in- 
dustry has  an  outlook  for  greater  prosperity  this  year  than 
ever  before.  Interest  in  mining  has  had  a  healthy,  steady 
growth  during  1904  and  the  industry  is  growing  in  popu- 
larity and  is  more  and  more  receiving  recognition  as  a  most 
profitable  and  ideal  field  for  investment.  Many  repentant 
speculators  have  learned  wisdom  after  repeated  experiences 
and  with  what  has  been  saved  from  the  wreck  of  the  specu- 
lative bubble,  are  turning  to  mining  where  there  is  no 
longer  any  question  as  to  the  earning  power  of  capital. 

The  great  financial  rulers  of  the  country  during  the 
past  year  have,  many  of  them,  turned  to  mining  and  their 
money  has  been  invested  in  many  mining  sections.  The 
names  of  conservative  bankers,  well-known  throughout  the 
country,  who  in  past  years  perhaps  have  used  their  in- 
fluence against  investments  in  mining,  have  during  the  past 
year  been  equally  as  earnest  in  the  organization  of  mining 
companies.  Investors  of  all  classes  with  money  have 
eagerly*  sought  mining  investment,  deserting  the  shrine  of 
speculation  to  purchase  with  their  money  the  favor  of  and 
swear  allegiance  to  the  king  of  all  industries — mining.  The 


72  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

•. 

hand-writing  on  the  wall  has  appeared  and  proclaims  that 
the  most  profitable  field  for  capital  is  mining.  The  intelli- 
gent investors  will  follow  the  example  of  the  bankers,  rail- 
road magnates  and  oil  kings,  and  invest  in  good  proposi- 
tions that  have  evidence  of  good  management  and  are  being 
developed  by  skillful  experts. 

There's  going  to  be  a  mighty  rising  of  the  tide,  during 
the  closing  portion  of  1904.  Capital  is  going  into  mining 
and  greater  output  will  result,  development  will  be 
hastened  and  the  mining  industry  will  be  more  prosperous 
than  ever.  This  is  the  sign  of  the  times,  the  outlook  for 
1905. 

The  influx  of  capital  is,  to  a  very  large  extent,  brought 
about  through  three  avenues: 

First:     The  Mining  Engineer. 

Second:     The  Mining  Promoter. 

Third:     The  Mining  Company. 

All  have  their  uses,  all  have  their  abuses  in  the  mining 
industry. 

On  the  personnel  of  the  mining  engineer  I  shall  touch 
only  lightly,  for  with  so  many  eminent  and  world-renowned 
men  before  me  I  believe  that  it  would  be  safer  for  me  to  re- 
serve my  heavy  ammunition  for  the  promoter,  especially  as 
the  kind  of  promoter  to  whom  I  shall  refer,  is  absent  from 
this  Congress.  I  really  feel  that  I  will  be  entirely  safe,  by 
not  saying  very  much  about  those  who  are  present,  but  give 
it  good  and  hard  to  those  who  are  absent.  Do  you  not  agree 
with  me,  gentlemen,  that  I  would  be  safer  in  so  doing? 

The  reason  why  I  do  not  have  much  to  say  about  the 
part  of  the  mining  engineer  is  this: 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  "Investor  in  Mines,''  and 
especially  the  public  at  large — the  damage  has  generally 
been  done  before  the  help  of  the  mining  engineer  is  called 
into  service  by  the  investor  in  mines. 

The  largest  amount  of  money  lost  in  so-called  mining 
ventures  is  lost  by  the  public  buying  stock  in  so-called 
mines,  which  are  only  prospects,  and,  in  most  cases  the 
money  paid  by  the  buyers  of  millions  of  shares  of  mining 
stock  is  never  expended  or  used  in  any  development  of  such 


THE    INVESTOR  IX    MINES.  73 

prospective  ground,  but  finds  a  lodging  place  in  the  wild- 
cat promoter's  pocket,  or  perhaps  is  spent  in  sky-rocket  ad- 
vertising. The  large  volume  of  money  thus  abstracted  from 
the  public  pocket,  is  primarily  done  under  false  representa- 
tions, which  entitle  the  offenders  to  punishment. 

Is  there  not  then  a  most  serious  aspect  of  affairs  con- 
fronting this  Congress,  assuming  as  I  do  that  one  of  its  de- 
clared principles  is  to  create  interest  by  means  of  our 
national  government  in  the  mining  industry,  and  to  bring 
into  closer  relation  the  thousands  of  men  engaged  in  the  de- 
velopment of  mines? 

I  should  like  to  see  a  special  effort  made  to  interest 
the  Legislatures  of  every  state  in  the  United  States  in  the 
mining  industry7  from  the  standpoint  that  the  citizens  of 
each  commonwealth  are  being  swindled  and  robbed  of  mil- 
lions of  dollars  every  year  by  unscrupulous  sharks  who  are 
a  leach  upon  one  of  the  grandest  industries  of  this  country. 
I  take  the  stand  that  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  states 
owe  it  as  a  duty  to  their  respective  constituents,  to  place 
upon  the  statute  books  of  each  state  such  laws  as  will  have 
a  tendency  to  eliminate  and  eradicate  this  evil. 

I  would  like  to  see  this  Congress  adopt  resolutions  be- 
fore its  adjournment  that  would  place  it  on  record  as 
pledged  to  doing  all  within  its  power  to  have  passed  such 
laws  as  are  urgently  needed,  feeling  sure  that  the  mining  in- 
dustry could  not  but  be  benefited  by  wholesome  laws  giv- 
ing protection  to  the  "Investor  in  Mines." 

Some  care  and  discretion  should,  of  course,  be  used  in 
the  framing  of  such  laws.  They  should  not  be  made  to  work 
an  injury  to  the  prospecting  for  mineral,  but  should  es- 
pecially be  made  to  prevent  and  punish  misrepresentations. 

The  investing  public  of  America  has  a  great  inclination 
to  invest  in  mining.  To  illustrate  this  point,  I  recently 
visited  a  prominent  banker  in  Michigan  who  is  interested 
in  several  mining  properties,  and  during  our  conversation, 
this  banker  said  to  me: 

"There  are  $50,000,000  of  cash  lying  idle  in  the  savings 
banks  of  the  state  of  Michigan,  every  dollar  of  which  is 
available  for  investment  in  good  mines  to  further  their  de- 


74  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 

velopment  and  equipment,  if  the  owners  of  this  money 
could  be  convinced  that  they  would  not  be  swindled  out  of 
it,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  that  they  would  get  returns  on 
their  investments." 

And  my  experience  is  no  doubt  the  experience  of  many 
others  who  have  endeavored  to  interest  capital  in  the  min- 
ing industry. 

The  immense  wealth  taken  from  American  mines  is  a 
great  inducement  to  investors.  But  it  cannot  be  said  that 
there  is  a  lack  of  confidence  in  American  mines,  for  such  is 
not  the  case.  It  is  the  fear  of  being  swindled,  the  lack  of 
knowledge,  the  lack  of  thorough  and  reliable  information 
which  create  a  suspicion  in  the  mind  of  the  investor  in 
mines. 

Sharks  enter  the  mining  business  as  they  do  into  other 
industries,  but  the  losses  which  are  entailed  by  their  thiev- 
ing propensities  or  by  the  silly  indescretions  of  investors, 
who  invest  first,  and  investigate  afterwards,  should  not  be 
criterions  of  the  industry.  These  failures,  though,  are  used 
to  the  detriment  of  mining. 

It  occurs  to  me  that  as  a  help  toward  eliminating  this 
evil,  we  might  turn  to  the  mining  engineer. 

Would  it  not  be  possible  to  secure  entire,  open-hearted, 
and  absolute  assistance  and  support  for  the  mining  indus- 
try from  our  mining  engineers? 

I  am  aware  that  some  mining  engineers  consider  it  un- 
professional to  take  the  public  into  their  confidence,  and  1 
am  free  to  state  that  this,  to  me  untenable  position  of  the 
mining  engineers,  has  raised  up  a  barrier  between  the  in- 
vestor in  mines  and  the  very  men  who  should  be  the  in- 
vestor's first  and  truest  friend  and  supporter. 

The  tendency  of  the  mining  engineer  to  hold  himself 
aloof  from  the  investor  has  resulted  in  the  condition  now  ex- 
isting; namely,  that  the  average  person  who,  in  considering 
an  investment  in  a  mining  property,  when  he  comes  to  a 
mining  engineer's  report,  generally  skips  it,  first  because 
he  does  not  understand  its  terms,  its  technicalities,  or  its 
phraseology;  second  because  he  imagines  it  simply  a  paid- 


THE   INVESTOR  IX    MINES.  75 

for  statement  of  some  "expert"  and  does  not,  in  his  opinion, 
amount  to  anything. 

With  the  larger  capitalist,  of  course,  it  is  different,  but 
I  am  not  dealing  to-day  with  that  particular  class,  princi- 
pally because  I  do  not  think  he  is  in  need  of  any  special 
consideration  at  the  hands  of  this  Congress,  believing  as  I 
do  that  he  is  abundantly  able  to  take  care  of  himself  and 
his  capital. 

It  is  the  unsophisticated  investor  that  I  have  in  mind— 
the  one  to  whom  mining  is  as  a  sealed  book — the  average 
investor  in  mines,  who  I  believe  stands  in  need  of  a  better 
acquaintanceship  and  closer  relation  with  the  mining  en- 
gineer. 

In  my  experience  in  financing  mining  enterprises,  I 
have  often  advised  prospective  investors  to  get  together, 
and  before  investing  their  money  in  any  mining  enterprise, 
to  employ  a  competent,  practical  mining  engineer  to  ex- 
amine for  them  at  their  expense  the  property  in  which  they 
were  asked  to  invest. 

It  has  occurred  to  me  that  the  fraternity  might  find  a 
wide  field  of  usefulness  in  making  such  examinations,  as 
well  as  profitable  and  continuous  employment. 

It  occurs  to  me  that  here  is  a  great  field  for  the  mining 
engineer,  for  the  purpose  of  his  examination  should  be  the 
double  one  of  rendering  judgment  upon  the  mining  property 
both  as  to  its  present  and  prospective  value.  This  judg- 
ment should  be  couched  in  plain  language,  free  from  techni- 
calities, so  that  the  average  unlearned  man  may  readily 
understand  it.  No  set  laws  or  rules  can  possibly  guide  the 
mining  engineer  in  his  investigation  of  a  report  upon  min- 
ing properties.  His  practical  experience  should  alone  guide 
him  in  formulating  his  final  report,  ever  bearing  in  mind 
that  each  individual  property  must  be  considered  and 
passed  upon,  on  its  own  merits  without  any  reference  to  any 
other  property. 

Herein,  then,  in  my  opinion,  is  a  very  large  field  for  the 
mining  engineer:  a  field  that  would  prove  a  very  profitable 
one  to  the  "Investor  in  Mines'7  and  a  field  that  to  the  min- 
ing engineer  should  be  made  remunerative. 


76  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

Now  as  to  the  promoter. 

In  the  present  methods  of  promoting  and  financing  min- 
ing enterprises,  through  the  co-operation  of  a  large  aggre- 
gate of  small  investors,  these  investors  being  generally 
widely  separated  and  as  a  general  thing  to  a  very  large  ex- 
tent unknown  to  each  other,  the  promoter  has  come  to  be  a 
necessary  adjunct  to  the  mining  industry;,  the  promoter  is 
the  agency  which  brings  the  capitalist,  be  he  little  or  large, 
and  the  mining  property  into  closer  relationship. 

I  make  the  claim  that  the  honest  promoter  of  a  legiti- 
mate mining  enterprise  renders  as  great  a  service  to  the 
mining  industry  as  does  the  most  brilliant  mining  engineer. 

I  will  add  to  this,  that  the  mining  industry  needs  the 
honest  promoter  as  much  as  it  does  the  mining  engineer  and 
that  in  fact  the  two  should  work  hand  in  hand  for  the  uplift- 
ing of  the  grandest  industry  of  our  country. 

The  promoter's  services  are  required  to  bring  the  at- 
tention of  capital  to  the  possibilities  of  the  mining  industry, 
to  secure  capital  for  the  development  of  prospective  mineral 
ground  into  a  mine,  or  the  equipment  of  a  developed  mine 
into  a  producer. 

If  this  be  true,  possibly  it  is  to  a  large  extent,  I  would 
say  that  an  opportunity  presents  itself  to  the  Mining  Con- 
gress to  assist  in  the  education  of  the  public  to  a  realization 
of  the  facts  of  mining  as  an  industry. 

And  yet,  when  the  promoter  approaches  a  man  and 
tells  him  he  wants  to  present  a  mining  proposition  for  his 
consideration,  the  prospective  investor  is  skeptical.  What 
is  it  that  has  created  this  doubt  in  the  average  man's  mind 
that  there  is  no  money  for  him  to  be  made  in  mining  for 
precious  metals? 

I  think  that  we  can  look  for  the  answer  to  organizers  of 
mining  companies  who  bid  for  public  support  through 
promises  of  returns  larger  than  even  the  great  industry 
of  mining  can  fulfill.  I  refer  to  what  I  shall  term  the  min- 
ing shark  who,  in  his  attempt  to  make  money  not  out  of 
mining,  but  out  of  the  mining  business,  misrepresents  to  the 
investor.  This  class  of  wild-cat  promoters  fail  to  realize 
that  mining  as  a  business  can  be  carried  on  with  the  same 


THE   INVESTOR  IN    MINES.  11 

degree  of  certainty  as  our  mercantile  institutions.  Then 
there  is  the  "well-intentioned  promoter7'  who  has  drifted 
into  the  financing  of  mines  generally  from  the  lack  of  some- 
thing better  to  do,  but  who,  at  the  same  time,  may  be  honest 
and  well-meaning,  but  in  his  ignorance  of  the  necessities 
of  mining,  makes  the  mistake  of  promising  dividends  before 
the  ore  reserves  are  established  with  the  result  that  while 
dividends  may  be  legitimately  declared  from  surface  work- 
ings it  is  only  a  matter  of  time  before  the  operator  finds  his 
property  in  a  position  where  dead  development  is  impera- 
tive, thus  necessitating  the  cessation  of  dividends.  Men  and 
women  who  have  bought  stock  under  the  promise  that  div- 
idends would  be  continuous,  not  understanding  mining,  at- 
tribute the  cessation  of  dividends  to  the  failure  of  ore,  and 
general  dissatisfaction  results,  thus  all  parties  interested 
suffer.  Whereas  had  the  mine  been  properly  developed  be- 
fore dividends  were  declared  there  would  possibly  have 
been  a  long  and  prosperous  career  for  those  identified  with 
its  securities.  This  class  of  promoters  allow  the  investor  to 
believe  that  a  few  dollars  is  all  that  are  necessary  to  make  a 
prospect  hole  into  a  producing  mine. 

He  fails  to  realize  that  before  dividends  can  be  paid 
they  must  be  earned  from  mining  and  selling  the 
product  of  the  mine.  He  fails  to  realize  that  in  either  case 
the  ore  must  exist.  It  has  occurred  to  me  as  I 
look  out  over  this  great  body  of  men  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  that  this  Congress  could  do  something 
to  eliminate  the  mining  shark  from  the  mining  industry. 
It  seems  to  me  that  this  industry  of  ours  is  too  good,  too 
grand,  to  have  foisted  upon  it  these  leeches;  it  seems  to  mer 
that  there  are  two  ways  to  go  about  a  reform  which  is. 
greatly  needed  in  this  country. 

One  way  would  be  for  this  Congress  to  adopt  measures 
and  if  necessary  appoint  committees  for  each  and  every 
state  in  the  Union  to  work  with  the  object  and  purpose  of 
placing  upon  the  statute  books  of  each  and  every  state  a  law 
similar  to  the  one  that  Washington  has  placed  upon  its 
statute  books.  It  seems  to  me  that  a  law  should  be  so 
made  that  it  would  punish  the  promoter  who  misrepresents 


78  PROCEEDING-S   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

any  property  to  the  "Investor  of  Mines."  It  appears  that 
the  Legislatures  of  the  different  states  should  protect  the 
citizens  who  are  being  swindled  by  these  wild-cat  promoters 
out  of  money  that  does  the  mining  industry  no  good,  but  a 
great  deal  of  harm.  It  seems  to  me  that  a  determined  cam- 
paign should  be  entered  upon  to  acquaint  the  State  Legis- 
latures with  these  facts  and  to  have  them  pass  laws  to  pro-, 
tect  their  respective  citizens. 

The  other  plan  I  have  in  mind  is  to  educate  the  layman 
and  average  investor  in  the  actual  facts  concerning  the 
mining  industry.  I  do  not  wish  it  to.  be  understood  that  I 
wrould  have  laws  passed  that  would  hamper  the  develop- 
ment of  deserving  prospects  or  the  equipment  of  producing 
mines,  but  these  laws  should  act  against  the  wild-cat,  thiev- 
ing, mining  shark. 

Then,  gentlemen,  I  come  to  the  third  factor  that  I  had 
in  mind;  the  company.  If  I  were  asked  by  an  investor  rela- 
tive to  what  kind  of  a  company  he  should  go  into,  I  would 
say :  "You  should  associate  yourself  with  conservative  busi- 
ness men  who  have  a  desire  to  make  money  out  of  the 
mines  by  honest  endeavor  to  open  up  the  properties;  men 
who  have  shown  their  faith  by  the  use  of  their  own  money 
.and  time.  Join  a  company  which  has  in  its  personnel  men 
who  have  demonstrated  their  ability  as  miners." 

If  I  were  asked  how  to  guard  a  mine  in  vestment  I  should 
say  by  keeping  track  of  what  is  done  at  .the  mine,  as  the 
mine  and  it  only  can  make  money  for  you.  Investigate  the 
company  yourself  if  you  can,  and  if  you  cannot  put  your 
faith  in  men  whom  you  have  reason  to  believe  are  honest 
and  capable  and  follow  their  advice.  Invest  when  you  have 

facts  before  you  but  do  not  wait  until  everybody  knows 
that  the  investment  is  a  safe  one.  If  conditions  should  be- 
come unfavorable,  do  not  worry;  if  conditions'  should  be- 
come very  favorable  do  not  get  the  big  head.  Hold  on  to 
your  investment;  for  in  the  realization  from  the  dividends 
of  a  good  mining  stock  you  will  derive  more  profit  than  you 
could  get  for  your  cash — a  good  mining  stock  is  one  of  the  best 
<assets  in  the  world. 


THE   INVESTOR  IN    MINES.  79> 

Now  gentlemen,  one  word  with  reference  to  the  future 
of  the  American  Mining  Congress.  I  feel  a  natural  pride  in 
the  development  of  the  Congress,  a  pride  that  has  grown 
upon  me  as  I  have  seen  its  usefulness. 

It  is  only  a  wish  of  mine  that  the  good  work  should 
continue  in  the  same  spirit  as  in  the  past. 

It  is  my  earnest  wish  that  the  different  factors  in  the 
mining  industry  should  come  in  closer  touch  writh  each 
other.  To  accomplish  this  I  have  but  one  suggestion  to 
make,  namely: 

That  you  organize — For  there  is  nothing  like  thorough 
organization  to  produce  results. 

I  am  sure  in  the  delegates  to  this  convention  can  be 
found  men  who  will  carry  out  the  aims  and  purposes 
which  I  would  have  this  Congress  adopt.  I  am  sure  that 
among  the  delegates  to  this  convention  there  will  be  found 
men  who  have  the  character  to  make  this  Congress  a  great 
factor  as  a  beacon  to  light  the  way  for  the  "Investor  in 
Mines." 


Concentration  of  Copper  Ores  in  the  Southwest. 

BY    FRANK    H.    PROBERT,    A.R.S.M.,    CONSULTNG    MINING    ENGINEER, 
LOS   ANGELES,    CALIFORNIA. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Colonel  Thomas  Ewing,  your  vice 
president,  and  on  direct  invitation  from  the  Council  of  the 
American  Mining  Congress,  I  have  endeavored,  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  to  put  on  record  the  results  of  an  elaborate 
series  of  experiments  carried  on  mostly  under  my  personal 
supervision,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Detroit  Copper  Mining 
Company,  the  Arizona  Copper  Company  and  the  Shannon 
Copper  Company  of  Morenci  and  Clifton,  Graham  county, 
Arizona,  during  the  last  few  years,  on  the  economical  con- 
centration of  the  copper  ores  of  that  field.     I  regret  that 
with  the  limited  time  at  my  disposal,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  treat  the  subject  as  comprehensively  as  it  deserves.    Such 
a  subject  offers  practically  an  unlimited  field  for  research; 
careful  investigation  and  constant  experimenting  will  alone 
solve  the  intricate  problems  connected  with  the  concentra- 
tion of  low-grade  ores;  to  attain    the    highest    extraction, 
closest  attention  to  detail  must  be  given;  the  saving  of  an 
extra  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent,  from    tailings    may    add 
thousands  of  dollars  to  the  profits  of  the  company  in  the 
course  of  a  year;  the  conservation  of  water  in  these  arid  re- 
gions is  imperative;  the  disposal  of  the  tailings  from  these 
large  mills  must  be  considered;  high  efficiency  and  low  cost 
^re  factors  of  the  utmost  importance.    Technical  literature 
of  to-day,  while  giving  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
concentration  of  ores,  mill  designs  and  a  general  review  of 
milling  practice,  cannot  possibly  contain  the  actual  results 
•of  experimental  work  conducted  on  a  large  scale.    It  would 
be  too  voluminous,  but  these  are  points  which  are  of  vital 
importance  to  the  engineers  responsible  to  their  employers 
for  results.     The  saving  of  the  dollars  and  cents  is  para- 
mount to  everything  else  in  mining  w6rk,  and  anything 
that  tends  towards  this  end  should  be  of  benefit  to  the  com- 
munity.   The  data  in  the  body  of  this  paper  is  the  result  of 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.       81 

very  careful,  tedious  experimenting,  oft-times  repeated,  and 
while  it  is  not  as  complete  as  I  could  wish,  my  mission  will 
have  been  filled  if  it  calls  forth  a  liberal  discussion  either 
in  the  meeting  assembled  or  in  the  technical  press.  Ex- 
change of  opinion,  free  and  liberal  distribution  of  data  ob- 
tained, and  friendly  discussion  can  alone  forward  the  min- 
ing industry,  and  anything  that  benefits  a  community  is  a 
benefit  to  the  world  at  large.  As  I  have  said,  pressure  of 
business  has  prevented  me  from  treating  the  subject  ex- 
haustively, but  I  earnestly  hope  that  brother  engineers  will 
come  forward  with  their  experiences,  and  swell  the  fund  of 
information  for  the  advancement  of  the  great  industry  in 
which  we,  as  the  American  Mining  Congress,  are  so  deeply 
interested. 

The  "open  door"  policy  is  as  essential  in  the  scientific 
as  it  is  in  the  commercial  world,  if  progress  is  to  be  made. 
The  absurdity  of  secrecy  in  matters  which  would  be  of  in- 
estimable benefit  to  others,  while  not  detracting  in  any  way 
from  its  value  to  the  fortunate  possessor,  must  not  be  toler- 
ated. A  suggestion  is  often  productive  of  far-reaching  and 
important  developments.  Much  has  been  done  to  tear  down 
the  barrier,  much  more  remains  to  be  done,  and  I  voice  the 
sentiments  of  the  mining  engineers  as  a  class,  and  particu- 
larly of  those  present  at  this  meeting,  in  asking  that  the  di- 
rectorate of  our  big  companies  be  more  liberal  in  allowing 
their  engineers  to  publish  the  results  of  their  labors. 

The  Morenci-Clifton  district  is  situated  in  Graham 
county,  Arizona  territory,  about  eighty  miles  north  of 
Lordsburg,  a  station  on  the  Southern  Pacific  railroad.  The 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico  railroad  connects  the  mines  with 
the  main  trans-continental  trunk  system.  The  mines  have 
been  steadily  producing  for  over  twenty  years,  and  w  hile  the 
richer  ore  bodies  have  been  practically  worked  out,  with  im- 
proved methods  of  treatment  both  in  concentration  and 
smelting,  the  output  has,  if  anything,  increased,  and  to-day 
the  district  ranks  among  the  foremost  of  the  world's  copper 
producers.  Necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention,  and  with 
the  impoverishment  of  the  ores,  advanced  methods  have 
made  it  possible  to  maintain  a  steady  production.  Three 


82  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

and  one-half  per  cent,  ores  are  now  being  treated  at  a  profit, 
and  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  even  leaner  ores  will 
be  the  main  source  of  supply  The  production  of  copper  by 
the  Clifton-Morenci  district  for  the  last  four  years  is  given 
below: 

For  six  months  ending  March  31,  1904,  the  Arizona 
Copper  Company  alone  smelted  approximately  50,000  tons 
of  ore  and  concentrates,  together  with  750  tons  of  copper  de- 
rived from  the  leacher,  resulting  in  a  gross  yield  of  14,756,- 
742  pounds,  which  was  equal  to  a  monthly  average  of 
1,229.7285  tons.  The  smelting  ores  and  concentrates  gave 
an  average  yield  of  13.35  per  cent. 

The  concentrators  treated  231,552  tons  of  low  grade 
ore,  yielding  35,093  tons  of  concentrates  or  a  concentration 
of  6.6  tons  of  raw  ore  into  one  ton  of  concentrates.  Statistics 
from  the  Detroit  Copper  Mining  Company  and  the  Shannon 
Copper  Company  are  not  available,  but  in  round  figures  the 
total  production  of  pig  copper  from  the  district  is  ninety 
tons  per  day. 

With  the  falling  off  of  the  average  copper  contents  of 
the  ore,  more  attention  will  be  given  to  increased  efficiency 
in  operation  and  lower  cost  of  production  than  to  the  mak- 
ing of  more  copper.  The  enormous  reserves  of  low  grade 
ore  assures  a  long  life  to  the  mining  industry  in  this  section. 

The  topography  of  the  country  affords  excellent  mill 
sites,  and  in  the  West  Yankee  and  Longfellow  concentra- 
tors, very  little  material  has  to  be  raised  by  elevators  to 
the  several  machines.  The  sharply  incised  canons  draining 
into  Chase  creek  and  the  San  Francisco  river  have  served 
as- dumping  areas  for  the  tailings,  but  owing  to  the  accumu- 
lation of  silt  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  Gila  river  along 
the  Gila  valley,  the  farmers  of  the  valley  have  raised  an  out- 
cry, and  the  mining  companies  are  obliged  to  devise  some 
scheme  whereby  this  menace  to  agricultural  interests  shall 
be  removed.  During  the  rainy  season,  the  bed  of  the  rivers 
is  washed  out,  and  millions  of  tons  of  tailings  are  carried 
down  to  the  valley  below.  Of  the  proposed  methods  for  dis- 
posing of  the  tailings,  I  will  speak  later. 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.       83 

Elsewhere*,  I  have  given  an  outline  of  the  general  geo- 
logical features  of  this  interesting  field,  but  as,  for  the  sub- 
ject under  discussion,  a  knowledge  of  the  ores  treated  is 
necessary,  I  will  briefly  describe  them.  The  concentrating 
ores  consist  of  a  highly  altered  porphyry  containing  parti- 
cles of  chalcocite — secondarily  enriched  pyrites — dissemi- 
nated through  the  mass.  The  character  of  the  ore  varies 
considerably  and  all  phases  of  decomposition  and  alteration 
of  the  porphyries  are  to  be  seen  in  the  bins.  Sometimes  the 
superabundance  of  feldspar,  and  its  extreme  kaolinization 
makes  the  ore  almost  a  talc,  and  then  one  may  find  an  exces- 
sive amount  of  quartz,  so  that  the  hardness  of  the  ore  and 
its  tendency  to  slime  is  very  variable.  Undoubtedly  the  pri- 
mary form  in  which  the  copper  occurred  was  as  chalcopyrite 
but  oxidation  of  the  surface  ores  and  the  percolation  of  the 
resulting  cupriferous  ground  water  has  produced  the 
chalcocite  ore  of  to-day.  Microscopic  examinations  will 
show  partial  or  complete  replacement  of  the  pyrite,  and 
nearly  all  the  sulphide  ores  mined  to-day  contain  the  copper 
in  this  form.  Oxides  and  silicates  as  well  as  sulphides  are 
present,  so  that  the  ores  sent  to  the  concentrator  are  com- 
plex both  as  regards  the  gangue  and  the  contained  mineral. 
Such  complex  ores  call  for  a  perfect  adjustment  of  the  ma- 
chines if  a  clean  product  is  desired.  The  ores  going  to 
the  West-Yankee  concentrator — Detroit  Copper  Mining 
Company — are,  comparatively  speaking,  free  from  oxides 
and  silicates;  the  Arizona  Copper  Company  treat  their 
oxide  ores  in  a  separate  mill,  but  the  Shannon  mill  is  handi- 
capped in-as-much  as  it  receives  a  very  mixed  feed,  and  it  is 
surprising  that  such  clean  concentrates  are  obtained. 

A  table  of  specific  gravity  of  the  several  copper  miner- 
als found  in  the  Clif ton-Morenci  copper  belt  follows : 

Specific  gravity  of  chalcopyrite  varies  between  4.1-4.3 

Specific  gravity  of  chalcocite  5.33. 

Specific  gravity  of  chrysocolla  varies  between  2.0-2.03. 

Specific  gravity  of  malachite  varies  between  3.7-4.0. 

Specific  gravity  of  azurite  varies  between  3.5-3.8. 

Specific  gravity  of  red  oxide  varies  between  5.8-6.1. 

*Eng.  and  Min.  Journal,  December  24,  1900» 


84  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

Specific  gravity  of  quartz  2.64. 

Every  effort  is  made  to  grade  the  ores  as  evenly  as  pos- 
sible, and  every  care  is  exercised  at  the  mines  to  keep  the 
several  classes  distinct. 

Fundamental  Principles. 

Of  the  several  laws  which  govern  the  wet  concentra- 
tion of  ores,  that  of  equally  falling  bodies  is  probably  the 
most  important.  Bodies  falling  free  in  a  fluid  fall  at  a 
speed  proportional  to  their  weight  divided  by  the  resist- 
ance. From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  small  masses  of  a 
heavy  mineral  will  fall  as  rapidly  as  large  masses  of  a  light 
material,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  weight  increases  as  the 
volume,  and  the  resistance  only  as  the  area.  The  funda- 
mental principle  underlying  all  hydraulic  concentration  de- 
pends on  the  difference  of  specific  gravity  between  the 
gangue  matter  and  the  contained  mineral.  Given  two  par- 
ticles of  equal  size  falling  through  a  column  of  water,  the 
one  chalcocite  having  a  specific  gravity  of  5.334,  and  the 
other  quartz-specific  gravity  2.64,  the  chalcocite  would  have 
a  much  greater  velocity  than  the  quartz,  and  according  to 
the  law  quoted  above,  if  the  grain  of  chalcocite  falls  with 
a  velocity  of  five  inches  per  second,  a  particle  of  quartz, 
to  fall  with  the  same  velocity,  must  be  2.07  times  as  large. 
Hence  it  follows  that  to  obtain  the  best  results,  close  clas- 
sification of  the  several  sizes  of  the  particles  must  be 
effected.  A  machine  cannot  produce  clean  concentrates  if 
the  feed  contains  particles  varying  from  a  20  to  a  200  mesh. 
Again,  the  relative  amount  of  mineral  to  gangue  matter  in 
the  feed  of  any  given  machine  requires  careful  watching 
and  adjustment.  The  best  results  are  obtained  when  the 
tenor  of  the  feed  remains  approximately  the  same. 

In  nearly  all  the  mechanical  contrivances  for  the  treat- 
ment of  fine  particles,  the  principle  is  the  same.  If  a  watery 
pulp  containing  grains  of  varying  specific  gravity  be  fed 
onto  a  flat  surface,  such  as  that  of  a  vanner  or  table,  which 
has  a  pulsating  movement  at  right  angles  to  the  line  of 
feed,  the  heavier  particles,  or  those  of  higher  specific  grav- 
ity, by  virtue  of  their  weight,  cling  much  more  tenaciously 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.       85 

to  the  flat  surfaces  than  the  lighter,  consequently,  when 
conditions  are  favorable,  the  mineral  stays  on  the  table  and 
travels  forward  as  a  clean  concentrate,  while  the  gangue 
matter  which  cannot  resist  the  flow  of  water,  is  washed  off 
as  tailings.  It  may  be  that  owing  to  coarse  crushing  there 
are  particles  of  mineral  intimately  associated  with  some 
gangue  matter;  these  will  be  intermediate  in  specific  grav- 
ity between  the  concentrates  and  tailings,  and  constitute 
the  middlings.  It  is  a  common  practice  to  recrush  these 
middlings  and  return  them  to  the  vanners  or  tables. 

The  West  Yankee  Concentrator. 

This  mill  of  the  Detroit  Copper  Mining  Company  has  a 
daily  capacity  of  about  650  tons.    It  was  designed  some  five 
years  ago  by  Dr.  L.  D.  Eicketts,  consulting  engineer  for 
Phelps,  Dodge  £  Co.,  and   since   its   completion  has  been 
working  steadily.    Excavations  are  now  being  made  for  a 
new  mill,  and  it  is  probable  that  in  the  course  of  another 
year  1,200  tons  of  ore  per  day  will  be  required  to  keep  the 
mills  running.     A  study  of  the  diagramatic  plan  (Pig.  1) 
accompanying  this  paper  will  show  the  arrangement  and 
disposition  of  the  products,  and  will  save  a  detailed  descrip- 
tion of  the  mill.     Owing  to  the  decomposed  character  of 
the  ore,  it  has  a  marked  tendency  to  slime,  and  as  the  finest 
slimes  carry  high  copper  values  which  are  very  difficult  to 
save,  great  care  has  been  taken  to  avoid  undue  crushing 
either  in  the  breakers  or  rolls.    The  ore  is  sized  as  often  as 
can  be,  and  every  effort  is  made  to  extract  the  values  from 
the  ore  as  soon  as  possible.     Nearly  sixty  per  cent,  of  the 
copper  values  are  taken  out  before  recrushing.     The  mid- 
dlings and  tailings  from  the  several  jigs  are  all  sized  in 
hydraulic  classifiers  before  going  to  the  Bryan  mills,  the 
finest  products  being  taken  directly  to  the  vanners.     The 
mill  is  divided  into  two  sections,  east  and  west,  and  until 
quite  recently,  Bryan  mills  were  used  for  recrushing  on  the 
one  side,  high  speed  rolls  on  the  other.     The  relative  effi- 
ciency  of  these  two   types   of  machines   was  thoroughly 
tested;  the  quantity  of  slime  produced  and  the  length  of 
time  they  were  stopped  for  repair  were  the  crucial  points, 


86 


PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 


and  finally  it  was  decided  to  substitute  Bryan  mills  for  the 
rolls.  The  products  of  the  Bryan  mills  are  sized,  the 
coarser  material  treated  on  fine  jigs  or  Bartlett  tables,  the 
finer  pulp  taken  to  the  Frue  vanners.  Tailings  from  the 


•Shaft 

rrn. 


•Sn?e/ter 


to 


Fines  to  BrfqueWinq 
3/  7Sme/rer 

Se/ected  /^  Ctess 


Concen+r&fes 


Coarse  to 

• Oyerf/cuv  to 

I 

<5/imesto  Clear  Water 

Lower  fanner  F/OOT          returned 


M'/te  ~*     <A«f-ae        "%£v              7~  —  —  Slimes  to 
^fes~       /                                  ""    Settling  7*nts 

~~Hydrau/ic  c/ass/f/er               Slimes  to  /o»er            Clear  water 
Vanner  f/oor                  returned 

Coarse  to  finejiys                                                 Middles  to                           &///rre 

Concentrates 
to  3/ne/ter                                                                       ^^  ^X. 
Tails  to                                                 ^-^*^                   ^^^\ 
Bart/eH  feA/es  on                  Concentrates               Tails  to  3e/t/er 
Lower  fanner  f/oor                    to   <Snre/ter 

+             \                                                                              .        *  ..                      J 

5  to  settler 

C/ear  water 
returned 

Concentrates 
to   S/rre/fer 

Tai/s  to                                                                               .^  >x. 
Settling  tents                                                         _^r            ^^^^ 

C/e*r  Water 
returned 


Concentrates 
to  Sme/ter 


Us  to  Settler 

J 


C/ear  Mrter 
returned 


to  »*ste 


DIACRAMATtC      PLAN 


L.H.F>F?OBEF?T 


fine  jigs,  Bartlett  tables  and  upper  coarse  vanners  are  re- 
treated on  the  lower  vanner  floor,  the  tailings  from  which 
are  run  to  waste. 

Power  is  supplied  by  three  Crossley  gas  engines  devel- 
oping 280  horse-power.    The  gas  for  fuel  is  manufactured 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.       87 

at  the  company's  gas  plant,   using   the  Loomis   Pettibone 

system. 

The  Shannon  Concentrator. 

This  mill,  erected  on  the  Shannon  hill  above  the 
smelter  has  a  daily  total  capacity  of  500  tons.  The  system 
adopted  is  similar  to  that  of  the  other  companies  operating 
in  the  district.  Huntington  mills  are  used  for  recrushing; 
the  upper  vanners  are  fitted  with  corrugated  belts,  the 
lower  with  plain  belts.  Power  is  taken  from  a  Nordburg 
steam  engine.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  mill  is  built 
above  the  smelter,  with  the  ore  bins  between,  all  the  ore 
has  to  be  elevated  to  the  trommels  at  the  top  of  the  mill 
on  an  endless  belt,  after  being  crushed  in  the  breaker. 
The  Longfellow  Concentrator. 

Of  the  five  concentrators  of  the  Arizona  Copper  Com- 
pany I  have  selected  this  one  as  being  the  most  up  to  date. 
It  has  a  daily  capacity  of  350  tons.  It  is  built  on  the  slope 
of  the  spur  of  Chase  Creek  Canyon,  everything  is  worked 
by  gravity,  and  the  tailings  are  dumped  into^  the  canyon 
below,  draining  into  the  San  Francisco  River.  The  trial 
run  of  the  mill  was  made  on  August  1,  1901,  with  very  sat- 
isfactory results,  and  it  has  been  in  commission  ever  since. 
Power  is  derived  from  three  Crossley  gas  engines,  taking 
gas  from  the  company's  gas  plant.  As  an  auxilliary  and 
"stand  by,"  there  is  a  single  direct  acting  Corliss  steam 
engine. 

The  ore  bins  are  on  a  level  with  the  railroad  track. 
They  have  a  capacity  of  450  tons  and  are  lined  with  one- 
half  inch  sheet  iron.  From  the  bins  the  ore  passes  to  a 
Blake  crusher,  set  to  crush  to  one  and  onerhalf  inch  ring, 
then  to  roughing  rolls  and  so  to  the  mill  stock  bin.  Ele- 
vated by  a  bucket  elevator,  it  is  fed  into  one  of  two  trom- 
mels and  graded  into  14,  3-8,  1-2  and  3-4  inch  sizes,  each 
product  going  to  special  jigs.  The  jig  tailings  are  reground 
in  five-foot  Huntington  mills  using  two,  and  two  and  one- 
half  millimetre  mesh  screens,  and  so  to  the  classifier,  from 
the  several  compartments  of  which  the  pulp  is  distributed 
to  Frue  vanners  fitted  with  cqrrugated  belts.  There  are 
eighteen  of  these  machines  arranged  in  three  series  of  six. 


PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

The  vanner  tailings  are  elevated  to  the  Huntington  mill 
floor  and  again  crushed  in  two  Huntington  mills  of  one,  and 
one  and  one-half  millimetre  mesh  screens,  and  the  pulp, 
together  with  the  slimes  from  the  classifier  below  the  jigs, 
is  treated  on  another  set  of  vanners,  using  plain  rubber 
belts,  arranged  in  another  three  series  of  six.  The  tailings 
from  these  machines  run  to  waste,  after  passing  through  a 
series  of  settling  tanks.  The  clear  w^ater  is  returned  to  the 
mill. 

Water. 

In  the  arid  regions  of  Arizona,  where  water  is  so 
scarce,  every  precaution  has  to  be  taken  to  prevent  waste. 
The  tailings  from  the  mills  are  allowed  to  settle  in  an  elab- 
orate system  of  tanks,  and  the  clarified  water  is  pumped 
back  again  into  the  mill.  The  water  for  the  Morenci  con- 
centrators is  pumped  from  the  'Frisco  River,  seven  miles 
away,  against  a  head  of  1,500  feet  and  stored  above  the  con- 
centrator in  tanks  of  500,000  gallons'  capacity.  It  used  to 
Cost  the  company  twenty  cents  per  1,000  gallons,  but  since 
the  new  pumping  plant  has  been  completed,  this  figure  has 
been  shaded  somewhat. 

By  settling  the  tailings  and  repumping  the  water,  the 
Detroit  Copper  Mining  Company  is  concentrating  one  ton 
of  ore  with  300  gallons  of  water  added  to  the  mill  circula- 
tion. 

At  Butte,  Montana,  they  generally  figure  on  three  gal- 
lons per  ton  per  minute. 

At  the  Longfellow  concentrator,  about  150  gallons  of 
water  are  used  j>er  minute,  which  is,  roughly  speaking,  600 
gallons  per  ton  of  ore  crushed. 

I  regret  that  I  have  not  the  figures  from  the  Shannon 
concentrator,  but  it  approximates  to  550  gallons  per  ton  of 
ore  milled. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  monthly  reports  of 
the  Detroit  Copper  Mining  Company  are  interesting. 

JULY,  1901. 

Water  used,  4,672,500  gallons. 
Running  time,  566.5  hours. 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.       89 

154.9  gallons  water  per  minute. 

440.6  gallons  of  water  per  ton  of  ore  milled. 

449.09  tons  ore  per  day. 

6.65  tons  ore  equal  1  ton  concentrates. 

Saving  effected,  84.05  per  cent. 


DIAGRAMATIC    PLAN- 


LOMG FELLOW  CONCErtTRATOff 

L.H  P ROBERT. 


Bfns 


Af///s 
2  1-  z'/z  rnms.  screens 


Hydr&u//c 
C/&ssif/er 


Concentrates  /o 


ffvnt/nyton  M///S 
/  -t-J'/z  rnnrs.  screens 


ro  Sme/ter 


Ysnrrers 
(p/ff/'n  be/ts) 


to  Sme/ter 


2. 


T&j/inqs  to  Large  . 
Settl/nf   T&nks 

I 


returnee/ 


to  W&ste 


90 


PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 


^_ 


:\ 


:\ 


"H 


V 


/ 


a 


Ol 

.*K 


^ 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.       91 

AUGUST,  1901. 

Water  used,  4,424,000  gallons. 

121.2  gallons  water  per  minute. 

426.2  gallons  water  per  ton  of  ore  milled. 

409.45  tons  ore  per  day. 

6.608  tons  ore  equal  1  ton  concentrates. 

Saving  effected,  83.48  per  cent. 

SEPTEMBER,  1901. 
Water  used,  5,059,400  gallons. 
Running  time,  632.25  hours. 
133.4  gallons  water  per  minute. 
398.6  gallons  water  per  ton  of  ore  milled. 
481.875  tons  ore  per  day. 
6.961  tons  ore  equal  1  ton  concentrates. 
Saving  effected,  82.72  per  cent. 

10,870.715  tons  tailings  produced,  assaying  0.765  per 
cent.  Cu. 

Loss  of  copper  in  tailings,  83.61  tons. 

OCTOBER,  1901. 

Water  used,  5,583,066  gallons. 

Running  time,  660.5  hours. 

140.9  gallons  water  per  minute. 

454.6  gallons  water  per  ton  of  ore  milled. 

446.284  tons  ore  per  day. 

7.385  tons  ore  equal  1  ton  concentrates. 

Saving  effected,  77.83  per  cent. 

Crude  ore  averaged,  3.64  per  cent  copper. 

10,612  tons  tailings  produced,  assaying  0.8  per  cent  Cu. 

Loss  of  copper  in  tailings,  84.903  tons. 

The  tailings  from  the  West  Yankee  concentrator  are 
made  to  travel  a  long  circuitous  course  (see  Fig.  3)  and 
every  effort  is  made  to  clarify  the  water,  but  owing  to  the 
large  amount  of  slime,  most  of  which  will  pass  through  a 
200  mesh  sieve,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  return  clear 
water.  This  question  of  the  complete  settlement  of  the 
slimes  is  a  puzzling  one,  and  one  to  which  I  have  devoted  a 
great  deal  of  time  and  thought.  A  slow  current  assists  the 
settling,  but  with  such  finely  divided  slime,  no  means  as 


92  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

yet  tried  have  been  entirely  satisfactory.  I  find  that  if 
milk  of  lime  be  introduced  into  the  tailings  launder,  it 
neutralises  the  free  acid,  oxidises  the  dissolved  metallic 
salts,  precipitating  them  as  flocculent  hydroxides.  These 
flocculae  catch  up  the  small  particles  of  alumina  and  silica 
which  are  in  suspension,  and  carry  them  down  with  the 
precipitates,  leaving  the  water,  comparatively  speaking, 
clear.  I  also  find  that  a  little  soap  solution  added  with  the 
milk  of  lime  accentuates  precipitation  by  causing  larger 
flocculae,  owing  to  the  formation  of  oleate  of  lime.  At  the 
borax  works,  Daggett,  California,  for  the  precipitation  of 
the  clayey  matter,  they  add  a  little  sodic  phosphate  or  the 
neutral  phosphate  of  alumina  to  the  slimey  liquors,  with 
good  results. 

The  iron  of  the  machines  and  the  pipe  work  in  the  con- 
centrators becomes  coated  with  a  copper  film,  and  is  slowly 
eaten  up  by  the  water,  owing  to  the  presence  of  a  little  free 
acid  and  dissolved  copper  salts.  Experiment  has  shown 
that  the  sulphide  ores  become  oxidized  during  treatment, 
more  especially  is  this  noticeable  on  the  jig  screens.  To 
counteract  this  evil,  either  burned  lime  is  fed  into  the 
crusher  with  the  ore,  or  as  stated  above  milk  of  lime  is 
added  to  the  tailings  launder.  A  careful  analysis  of  the 
water  in  circulation  was  made,  and  the  amount  of  lime 
necessary  to  neutralize  the  acid  and  salts  present  calcu- 
lated. About  1,000  pounds  of  slaked  lime  are  necessary  to 
.  counteract  the  deleterious  matter  dissolved  from  500  tons 
of  ore  per  day.  Since  I  started  this  practice  at  Morenci,  the 
Arizona  Copper  Company  and  the  Shannon  Copper  Com- 
pany have  followed  the  example.  Aside  from  the  benefit 
derived  from  the  precipitate  in  helping  to  clarify  the  water, 
there  is  a  marked  saving  in  the  repairs  to  the  iron  work  of 
the  mill. 

Milling  Practice. 

It  is  very  necessary  to  maintain  an  even  grade  of  ore 
for  successful  operations.  The  ore  being  twice  dumped, 
once  at  the  ore  bins  at  the  mines,  and  then  again  into  the 
stock  bins  at  the  concentrator,  brings  about  a  more  or  less 
complete  mixture,  but  it  is  surprising  how  uneven  the  feed 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.       93 


is  to  the  mills.  While  making  an  examination  of  the  Shan- 
non mill,  I  had  hourly  samples  taken  of  the  ore  being  fed 
into  the  trommels  from  the  crusher,  day  and  night,  with  a 
view  of  finding  out  how  complete  the  mixing  of  the  ore  was. 
On  January  21,  1904,  my  notes  show  the  following  results: 


Hour. 

Assay. 

6  a.  m  .  .  . 

.3.14  percent.  Cu 

7  a.  m  

.  3.92  per  cent.  Cu 

8  a.  m  .  .  . 

.  3.45  per  cent.  Cu 

9  a.  m.  .  . 

.  3.28  per  cent.  Cu 

10  a.  m  .  .  . 

.  3.20  per  cent.  Cuj 

11  a.  m.  .  . 

.4.03  per  cent.  Cu 

Noon    

3.84  per  cent  Cu 

1  p.  m.  .  . 

.2.64  percent.  Cu. 

2  p.  m.  .  . 

.2.67  percent.  Cui 

3  p.  m.  .  . 

.4.45  per  cent.  Cu 

4  p.  m.  .  .  . 

3.73  per  cent.  Cu 

5  p.  m.  .  . 

.  3.06  per  cent.  Cu 

m 
m 


Hour. 

6  p.  m 

7  p.  m 

8  p. 

9  p. 

10  p.  m . 

11  p.  m.  , 
Midnight 

1  a.  m. 

2  a.  m. 

3  a.  m. 

4  a.  m. 


Assay. 

3.25  per  cent.  Cu 
5.14  per  cent.  Cu 
4.73  per  cent.  Cui 
3.17  per  cent.  Cu; 
3.70  per  cent.  Cu 
2.34  per  cent.  Cu 
4.45  per  cent.  Cu 
3.25  per  cent.  Cu 
4.70  per  cent.  Cu\ 
3.00  per  cent.  Cu 
4.39  per  cent.  Cu 
3.14  per  cent.  Cu 


5  a.  m. 

Even  greater  differences  than  this  have  been  noted, 
and  with  such  a  variable  feed  the  machines  have 
to  be  very  closely  watched  and  carefully  adjusted. 
The  Morenci  and  Clifton  mills  are  more  fortunate,  as  the 
percentage  of  oxides  is  not  so  great.  Mr.  Graybill,  the 
superintendent  of  the  Shannon,  informs  me  that  a  grab 
sample  taken  from  the  feed  from  the  belt  showed  that 
more  than  forty  per  cent,  of  the  total  copper  was  in  the 
form  of  oxides. 

As  much  of  the  fines  should  be  screened  out  of  the  ore 
as  possible  before  going  to  the  crusher.  A  bumping 
screen  feeding  the  rock  breaker,  having  one  and  one-half 
inch  perforations  is  found  to  give  good  results,  the  fines 
going  directly  to  the  trommels.  The  system  of  sizing  in 
trommels  and  jigging  each  size  on  separate  jig  frames  is 
the  same  as  is  adopted  in  all  wet  concentrating  plants. 
At  the  present  time,  the  Arizona  Copper  Company  are  test- 
ing a  new  appliance  at  their  No.  3  mill.  It  is  called  a 
"Kangaroo  jig"  and  so  far,  it  has  surpassed  all  that  was 
expected  of  it.  A  rocking  motion  is  imparted  to  the  jig 
frame  itself.  It  has  a  capacity  of  about  thirty-five  tons  per 
hour,  and  will  treat  all  material  from  five-eighths  of  an 
inch  ring  down.  It  can  therefore  be  used  for  the  products 


94  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

of  the  Chilian  mills,  and  if  the  tests  continue  to  be  satis- 
factory, it  will  revolutionize  milling  practice  in  the  Clifton 
district.  One  machine  does  the  work  of  about  seven  ordi- 
nary jigs,  and  it  takes  about  five  horse-power  to  run  it,  so 
that  it  has  two  attractive  features,  low  consumption  of 
power  and  great  capacity.  Clean  concentrates  are  being 
obtained.  As  yet  I  have  no  data  for  publication,  but  the 
contrivance  is  attracting  a  great  deal  of  attention  in  the 
district. 

For  the  recrushing  of  the  jig  tailings,  Huntington 
mills  are  used  by  the  Arizona  Copper  and  Shannon  Cop- 
per Companies,  while  the  Detroit  Copper  Company  claim 
that  the  Bryan  mill  does  the  best  work.  The  object  is  to 
prevent  sliming  as  much  as  possible.  It  was  my  privilege 
some  two  years  ago  to  make  a  comparison  of  the  Bryan 
mill,  Huntington  mill  and  high  speed  rolls  at  the  West 
Yankee  and  Longfellow  concentrators,  Morenci,  which 
work  resulted  in  the  abandonment  of  high  speed  rolls  for 
fine  crushing.  There  is  little  to  choose  between  the  two 
types  of  Chilian  mills. 

The  following  table  is  a  summary  of  a  long  series  of 
tests  made  at  Morenci,  and  is  compiled  by  taking  the  aver- 
age of  some  thirty  different  samples  at  different  times  from 
the  three  machines.  The  samples  were  dried  before  screen- 
ing, no  pressure  was  used  in  sieving  the  pulp,  and  even 
admitting  that  some  small  proportion  was  pulverized  in 
the  process,  the  error  should  be  the  same  in  all,  therefore 
the  figures  given  show  the  comparative  merits  of  these 
three  types  of  recrushing  apparatus. 

Bryan  High         Huntington 

Mills.        Speed  Rolls.        Mills. 

°/  °/  °/ 

7o  7o  7o 

Left  on  20  mesh  ................   2.89  0.79  11.18 

Left  on  40  mesh  ................  18.28  17.13  20.42 

Left  on  60  mesh  ................  10.65  10.25  6.35 

Left  on  80  mesh  ................  5.93  4.64  3.05 

Left  on  90  mesh  ................  2.49  1.94  1.65 

Left  on  100  mesh  .................... 

Left  on  120  mesh  ................  5.04  5.07 

Left  on  150  mesh  ................  2.23  1.79  1.09 

Left  on  200  mesh  ................  2.77  3.05  1.38 

Through  200  mesh  ................  49.69  55.31  50.94 


The  screen  on  the  Bryan  mills  was  iy2  millimetres. 

The  screen  on  the  high  speed  rolls  was  10  mesh. 

The  screen  on  the  Huntington  mill  was  2%  millimetres. 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.      95 

Mr.  Wallace  of  Morenci  followed  up  my  experiments 
by  a  series  of  wet  screen  analyses  on  the  pulps  from  the 
different  machines,  which  system  I  adopted  in  all  the  tests 
made  while  examining  the  Shannon  concentrator  recently. 
A  number  of  samples  were  taken  of  each  pulp  at  intervals 
of  half  an  hour  and  all  mixed  together.  Having  drained 
off  the  surplus  water,  after  allowing  the  suspended  matter 
to  settle,  the  pulp  was  slowly  poured  into  a  large  funnel 
and  a  cut  sample  of  the  stream  taken.  This  process  was 
repeated  until  the  bulk  had  been  reduced  sufficiently  to 
be  able  to  handle  it  conveniently  in  the  laboratory.  A  jet 
of  water  was  used  to  wash  the  pulp  through  the  nest  of 
screens,  and  the  residues  on  each  screen  dried,  weighed 
and  assayed  separately. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Wallace  for  the  following  tables : 

Bryan  Mills,  Detroit  Copper  Company,  Morenci. 

Screen  on  mill  2y2  mm.,  punched.  October  20,  1903. 

West.  Cii  in  %  Cu  in 

Ozs.  %  Wt.  Assay.  Sizes.     Sizes. 

Left  on      20  mesh 2.625  11.95  0.6  7.17  6.60 

Left  on      30  mesh 2.375  10.80  0.67  7.24  6.67 

Left  on      40  mesh \ 2.375  6.25  0.85  5.31  4.92 

Left  on      50  mesh 1.250  5.68  0.92  5.23  4.82 

Left  on      60  mesh 2.000  9.10  1.00  9.10  8.38 

Left  on      70  mesh 0.625  2.84  1.08  3.07  2.83 

Left  on      90  mesh 1.250  5.68  1.31  7.45  6.86 

Left  on    120  mesh 1.250  5.68  1.65  9.36  8.63 

Left  on    150  mesh ;.. 0.750  3.41  1.88  6.42  5.92 

Left  on    200  mesh 0.500  2.27  2.13  4.83  4.44 

Through  200  mesh 8.000  36.40  1.20  43.60  40.10 


Sample  assayed  1.04% 

Bryan  Mills,  Detroit  Copper  Company,  Morenci. 

Screen  on  mill  2^  mm.,  punched.  October  20,  1903. 

East.  Cu  in  %  Cu  in 

Ozs.  %  Wt.    Assay.  Sizes.  Sizes. 

Left  on      20  mesh 2.250  11.60  0.65  7.54  5.42 

Left  on      30  mesh 2.125  10.85  0.80  8.67  6.23 

Left  on      40  mesh 1.250  6.45  1.05  6.77  4.87 

Left  on      50  mesh 1.250  6.45  •    1.25  8.06  5.80 

Left  on      60  mesh. 1.875  9.68  1.42  13.75  9.91 

Left  on      70  mesh 0.50  2.58  1.52  3.92  2.82 

Left  on      90  mesh 1.00  5.16  1.76  9.08  6.54 

Left  on    120  mesh 1.125  5.80  2.25  13.05  9.38 

Left  on    150  mesh 0.50  2.58  2.45  6.33  4.56 

Left  on    200  mesh 0.55  2.83  2.80  7.92  5.70 

Through  200  mesh 7.00  36.10  1.50  54.20  39.00 

Sample  assayed  1.39%. 


96 


PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 


Screen  analysis  of  the  pulp  issuing  from  the  Hunting- 
ton  mills  at  the  Longfellow  concentrator  gave  the  follow- 
ing results: 

Huntington  Mills,  Arizona  Copper  Company,  Morenci. 
Screen  on  mill  2%  and  2  mm.     October,  1903. 


Left  on 
Left  on 
Left  on 
Left  on 
Left  on 
Left  on 
Left  on 
Left  on 
Left  on 
Left  on 
Through 


Ozs.  %  Wt. 

20  mesh 5.125  15.30 

30  mesh 4.000  11.95 

40  mesh 2.000  5.95 

50  mesh 1.625  4.85 

60  mesh 2.000  5.97 

70  mesh 0.875  2.61 

90  mesh 1.000  2.99 

120  mesh 1.375  4.11 

150  mesh 0.875  2.61 

200  mesh 0.625  1.87 

200  mesh. 14.000  41.80 


Huntington   Mills  for  Recrushing  Vanner  Tailings. 


%  Cuin 

Assay. 

Sizes. 

0.95 

11.30 

0.99 

9.22 

1.09 

5.08 

1.25 

4.76 

1.54 

7.18 

1.72 

3.51 

1.94 

4.53 

2.35 

7.58 

2.92 

5.94 

2.89 

4.22 

1.13 

36.70 

Screen  on  mill  iy2  and  1  mm.    October,  1903. 

Grams. 

Left  on  20  mesh 42.50 

Left  on  30  mesh 71.00 

Left  on  40  mesh 37.60 

Left  on  50  mesh 28.40 

Left  on  60  mesh 42.50 

Left  on  70  mesh 13.70 

Left  on  90  mesh 23.58 

Left  on  120  mesh 22.25 

Left  on  150  mesh 14.00 

Left  on  200  mesh 10.85 

Through  200  mesh 227.00 


%  Wt. 
7.98 

13.30 
7.05 
5.33 
7.97 
2.57 
4.42 
4.17 
2.63 
2.04 

42.60 


Assay. 

0.71 

0.72 
0.82 
0.89 
0.91 
0.95 
0.99 
1.02 
1.11 
1.22 
0.82 


%  Cuin 

Sizes. 

6.72 

11.32 
6.85 
5.63 
8.60 
2.89 
5.18 
5.05 
3.46 
2.96 

41.50 


In  November  last  a  dried  sample  of  the  pulp  from  the 
Huntington  mills  of  the  Shannon  concentrator  was  sent  to 
Morenci  for  analysis,  and  the  following  results  obtained: 

Huntington  Mill,  Shannon  Concentrator. 

Sample  taken,   dried   and   sent  to   Morenci   for   analysis,   November 
15,  1903. 

Screen  1  mm.,  punched  (old). 


Grams.  % 

Left  on      20  mesh  ..........  .  ..     8.100  1.83 

Left  on      30  mesh  .............  42.986  9.62 

Left  on      40  mesh  .............  39.816  8.98 

Left  on      50  mesh  .............  31.568  7.12 

Left  on      60  mesh  .............  45.316  10.22 

Left  on      70  mesh  .............  13.170  2.97 

Left  on      90  mesh  .............  22.383  5.05 

Left  on    120  mesh  .......  .  .....  23.333  5.26 

Left  on    150  mesh  ...........  ..11.800  2.67 

Left  on    200  mesh  .............     9.700  2.19 

Through  200  mesh  .............  194.830  44.00 


Cu  in 

Assay. 

Sizes. 

0.55 

1.01 

0.8 

7.70 

1.00 

8.98 

1.25 

8.90 

1.50 

15.30 

1.75 

5.20 

2.10 

10.60 

2.75 

14.45 

3.45 

9.20 

3.45 

7.56 

1.55 

68.20 

%  Cu  in 
Sizes. 
0.645 
4.920 
5.730 
5.670 
9.750 
3.310 
6.760 
9.220 
5.870 
4.810 
43.400 


Assay  of  sample  1.60%. 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.       97 


Analysis:     SiO2 66.50 

CaO 0.20 

Fe 3.50 

MgO   1.44 

A1203   16.70 

S    2.16 

Cu  1.60 

The  results  I  obtained    from    wet    screenings  of  the 
Huntington  mill  product  at  the  Shannon  are  given  below: 

Huntington   Mills,  Shannon  Concentrator. 


Screen  1  mm.,  punched  plate;  %  hourly  samples.    January  19th. 

Grams.  % 

Left  on      20  mesh 10.106  2.55 

Left  on      30  mesh 43.114  10.89 

Left  on      40  mesh 30.412  7.74 

Left  on      60  mesh 55.813  14.10 

Left  on      80  mesh 6.113  1.54 

Left  on    100  mesh 19.04  4.81 

Left  on    120  mesh 23.787  6.02 

Left  on    150  mesh 10.062  2.54 

Left  on    200  mesh 10.105  2.55 

Through  200  mesh 187.04  47.33 

Totals  ..                                                                  ..395.592  100.07 


I  Cu 
0.74 
0.92 
1.07 
1.51 
1.8ft 
2.04 
2.67 
2.12 
5.22 
1.68 


Screen  1  mm.,  punched  plate.    January  20th. 

Grams.  %  %  Cu 

Left  on      20  mesh  ................................  897  0.23 

Left  on      30  mesh  ..............................  34.862  9.18  0.7 

Left  on      40  mesh  ..............................   35.450  9.33  0.85 

Left  on      60  mesh  ..............................   61.679  16.23  1.11 

Left  on      80  mesh  ..............................     9.363  2.46  1.2T 

Left  on    100  mesh  .........  .....................  12.455  3.27  1.83 

Left  on    120  mesh  ..............................  23.317  6.13  2.51 

Left  on    150  mesh  ..............................     7.626  2.07  3.1& 

Left  on    200  mesh  ..............................     8.675  2.28  3.52 

Through  200  mesh  ..............................  185.550  48.84  1.73 

Totals  .....................................  379.874  100.02 


mm.,  slotted  wire  cloth;    %  hour   samples  for  6  hours. 


Screen  1 
January  26th. 

Grams.            %  %  Cu 

Left  on      20  mesh  ..........  .  ...................  48.780  15.08  0.78 

Left  on      30  mesh  ..............................   52.365  16.19  0.98 

Left  on      40  mesh  ..............................  26.680  8.25  1.12 

Left  on      60  mesh  ..................  ............  39.735  12.29  1.44 

Left  on      80  mesh  ..............................     4.440  1.37  1.85 

Left  on    100  mesh  ..............................  12.595  3.89  1.88 

Left  on    120  mesh  ............  '.  .................  11.735  3.63  2.48 

Left  on    150  mesh  ..............................     5.715  1.76  3.06 

Left  on    200  mesh  ...................  .  :  .........     5.960  1.84  2.8S 

Through  200  mesh  ..............                             .  .  115.300  35.66  1.29- 


Totals ..323.305 


99.96 


98  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

Slotted  wire  cloth  is  of  little  use  on  a  regrinding  mill. 
After  a  few  hours  the  wires  become  worn  and  a  coarse 
product  is  obtained.  An  examination  of  the  pulp  left  on  a 
20  mesh  screen  of  the  last  test  made  showed  particles 
measuring  from  two  and  one-half  to  three  millimetres 
diameter.  A  heavy  punched  plate  screen  is  the  best.  The 
heavier  the  screen  the  longer  its  life,  and  the  more  even 
the  size  of  the  product.  A  fine  screen  produces  too  much 
slime  and  it  is  only  by  such  a  series  of  tests  as  has  already 
been  described  that  the  most  suitable  size  screen  can  be  de- 
termined. A  difference  of  twelve  per  cent,  of  the  total  sam- 
ple is  noticed  in  the  impalpable  slime  passing  through  a 
200-mesh,  between  a  machine  using  one  mm.  screens  and  an- 
other using  one  and  one-half  mm. 

The  marked  difference  in  the  assay  value  of  the  pulp 
left  on  a  200  mesh  screen  and  that  of  the  powder  passing 
through  is  particularly  interesting.  I  am  at  present  unde- 
cided as  to  the  cause  of  this  pronounced  falling  off  in  the 
values,  but  it  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  difference  in  the 
hardness  of  the  oxides,  silicates  and  sulphides. 

It  will  also  be  noticed  that  there  is  a  very  decided  in- 
crease in  the  amount  of  slime  passing  through  a  200  mesh 
screen  to  that  left  on  a  200  mesh,  which  may  be  explained 
by  the  theory  that  as  soon  as  the  rollers  touch  the  rock  it 
is  immediately  pulverized.  There  is  no  slow  grinding 
action,  the  harder  particles  remain  coarse  and  the  balance 
is  reduced  to  an  impalpable  powder  immediately.  This 
interesting  point  also  shows  that  such  machines  clear 
themselves  very  rapidly,  otherwise  one  would  expect  to 
find  a  gradual  increase  in  the  percentage  of  the  whole,  left 
on  the  several  screens.  After  the  sixty  mesh  size  has  been 
reached,  there  is  only  about  twelve  per  cent,  of  the  total 
found  on  the  screens  up  to  200  mesh. 

Having  recrushed  the  material,  close  classification  of 
the  various  sizes  is  necessary  to  ensure  clean  concentra- 
tion. The  pulp  issuing  from  the  mill  is  run  into  a  long 
modified  spitzkasten,  having  a  number  of  compartments 
from  which  the  several  sized  products  are  drawn  off  and 
•conveyed  to  one  or  other  of  the  machines  by  launders.  Too 


CONCENTRATION  OP  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.      9& 

much  attention  cannot  be  paid  to  this  important  point.  No 
machine  can  handle  satisfactorily  a  pulp  containing  par- 
ticles varying  from  20  to  200  mesh.  Close  classification 
of  the  sizes  is  the  keynote  of  successful  concentration,  and 
the  classifiers  should  be  made  large  enough  to  handle  all 
the  products  of  the  mill  whether  using  a  two  and  one-half 
or  a  one  mm.  screen.  Ample  provision  should  be  made  so 
that  in  the  event  of  an  increased  output  from  the  mill,  an 
equally  clean  and  close  classification  will  be  obtained.  The 
folly  of  having  the  classifiers  too  small  can  be  seen  from 
the  following  table  giving  the  results  of  a  month's  run  at 
one  of  the  concentrators  to  which  my  attention  was  called. 
Only  a  small  classifier  was  installed  between  the  two  five- 
foot  Chilian  mills  and  the  vanners,  quite  inadequate  for 
the  work  it  was  called  upon  to  do,  and  on  putting  in  a  one 
and  one-half  mm.  slotted  wire  cloth  screen,  after  a  few: 
hours,  when  the  screen  began  to  wear,  the  vanners  were 
crowded  with  a  pulp  of  all  sizes,  dirty  work  resulted,  the 
tailings  ran  away  up  in  their  copper  contents,  and  the  con- 
centrates would  not  assay  eleven  per  cent,  copper. 

Raw  Ore.  Huntington       General  Tailings. 

Date.  Day.  Night.  Feed.  Day.          Night. 

1 ; 3.70       3.04       1.50       0.78       0.65 

2 3.20       ....       1.62       0.78 

3 3.29       ....       1.76       0.67 

4 3.18       3.34       1.80       0.79  -      1.19- 

5 3.20       3.68       1.62       1.17       0.77 

6  288       3.93       1.74       0.93       0.82 

7 2.60       2.72       1.58       0.88       0.76 

8 4.51       ....       1.72       0.77       0.72 

9 4.30       3.87       1.61       0.86       0.68 

10. 4.63       5.19       1.43       0.94       0.96 

11 2.97       3.50       1.57       0.82       0.85 

12 3.46       3.96       1.74       0.94       0.84 

13 3.93       3.54       1.61       1.00       0.95 

14 2.61       3.93       1.12       0.80       0.67 

15 ' 3.60       3.96       1.44       1.73       1.89 

16 3.85       ....       1.32       1.04 

17 

18 3.14       3.21       2.36       0.84       1.00 

19 3.47       2.86       1.24       0.88       1.09 

20 3.45       3.32       1.63       0.92       1.04 

21 3.45       3.77       1.67       1.11       1.41 

22 4.00       2.90       1.49       0.92       1.24 

23 3.61       3.66       1.58       1.02       1.21 

24 2.93       3.83       1.68       0.99       1.06 

25 3.86       3.67       1.39       1.00       1.13 

26 2.86       3.65       1.24       0.90       0.91 

27 2.70       3.60       1.59       1.14       1.01 

28 ..3.80       4.11       1.54       0.89       1.0$ 


100  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

The  wire  cloth  screen  was  put  on  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  19th. 

At  the  West  Yankee  concentrator  the  coarser  prod- 
ucts from  the  classifier  are  taken  to  fine  jigs  on  one  side  of 
the  mill  and  to  Bartlett  tables  on  the  other  side.  The  fine 
jigs  do  excellent  work.  A  screen  analysis  of  the  Bartlett 
tailings  shows  how  efficient  these  classifiers  are,  over  sev- 
enty-one per  cent,  of  the  whole  being  coarser  than  forty 
mesh. 

Upper  Bartlett  Tailings. 

Grams.  %          %  Cu 

Left  on      10  mesh Trace 

Left  on      20  mesh 64.6  18.94          .82 

Left  on      40  mesh 179.2  52.56          .91 

Left  on      60  mesh 23.4  6.86          .69 

Left  on      80  mesh 6.3  1.84          .86 

Left  on    100  mesn 

Left  on     120  mesh 

Left  on    150  mesh 9.4  2.75        1.20 

Left  on    200  mesh 1.1  .32 

Through  200  mesh 55.5  16.39        1.56 

Equally  good  results  are  obtained  at  the  Arizona  Cop- 
per Company's  concentrators,  where  Frue  vanners  with 
corrugated  belts  are  used  for  the  coarse  materials.  At  the 
Shannon  mill  I  found  it  impossible  to  get  a  representative 
sample  of  the  coarse  feed  to  the  vanners,  but  the  screen 
analyses  of  the  tailings  show  that  the  classifiers  do  good 
work.  When  using  a  one  mm.  punched  plate  screen  on  the 
mills,  seventy-seven  per  cent,  of  the  tails  from  the  coarse 
vanners  will  remain  on  a  sixty  mesh  sieve;  with  a  one  and 
one-half  mm.  slotted  wire  screen,  eighty-seven  per  cent, 
remains  on  a  sixty  mesh,  but  sixty-four  per  cent,  of  the 
total  will  be  found  on  a  thirty  mesh  sieve.  The  quantity 
of  slime  is  approximately  the  same  in  each  case,  only  eight 
per  cent. 

Coarse  Vanner  Tailings. 

Using  Corrugated  Belts;  Shannon  Concentrator. 

Screen  1  mm.,  punched;  y2  hour  samples  for  6  hours.    January  20th. 

Grams.  %  Cu 

Left  on      20  mesh : 14.058  4.11        0.66 

Left  on      30  mesh 76.664          22.41        0.72 

X,eft  on      40  mesh 57.202  16.71        0.89 

Left  on      60  mesh 115.959  33.89         0.99 

Left  on      80  mesh. . . .  1 12.860  3.76         0.95 

Left  on    100  mesh 19.602  5.73         0.94 

Left  on    120  mesh 13.934  4.07        0.70 

Left  on    150  mesh 3.773  1.10 

Left  on    200  mesh 3.160  0.93 

Through  200  mesh 24.920  7.28         1.38 

Totals  .  ...'.342.132          99.99 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.     101 

Screen  l1/^  mm.,  wire  cloth;  y2  hour  samples  for  6  hours.  January  26th. 

Grams.            %  %  Cu 

Left  on      20  mesh 112.325  32.53  0.68 

Left  on      30  mesh 113.645  32.91  1.74 

Left  on      40  mesh 32.745  9.48  1.72 

Left  on      60  mesh 42.205  12.22  0.80 

Left  on      80  mesh 2.990  0.87 

Left  on    100  mesh 5.415  1.57  0.89 

Left  on    120  mesh 4.355  1.26  0.96 

Left  on    150  mesh 1.685  0.48 

Left  on    200  mesh 1.565  0.45 

Through  200  mesh 28.40  8.22  1.03 

Totals 345.335          99.99 

At  the  Shannon  concentrator  the  tailings  from  the 
vanners  are  not  retreated  as  in  the  West  Yankee  and  Long- 
fellow mills.  A  microscopic  examination  of  the  concen- 
trates and  coarse  tailings  from  these  vanners  would  be  of 
value  to  determine  whether  further  reduction  in  size  would 
give  increased  extraction.  Whether  the  low  copper  con- 
tents and  the  high  silica  of  the  concentrates  obtained  is 
due  to  different  sized  particles  of  quartz  and  mineral  being 
washed  over  together,  or  to  a  large  proportion  of  mid- 
dlings, is  a  question  not  easy  to  answer  without  a  micro- 
scopic examination.  If  the  latter  explanation  is  correct, 
then  finer  crushing  should  be  resorted  to;  if  the  former, 
then  more  vanners  and  less  feed  to  each  is  the  solution  of 
difficulty. 

Corrugated  belts  are  far  superior  to  plain  rubber  belts 
for  the  concentration  of  coarse  material. 

The  slime  vanners  of  the  Shannon  are  doing  good 
work.  On  January  27,  1904,  the  feed  assayed  1.68  per  cent, 
while  the  tailings  showed  0.91  per  cent,  copper,  which  is 
an  extraction  of  45.83  per  cent.  A  clean  concentrate  is 
also  obtained,  that  on  January  26th  assayed  16.17  per  cent, 
copper.  From  the  following  screen  analysis  it  will  be  seen 
that  98.24  per  cent,  of  the  total  readily  passes  through  a 
200  mesh  sieve,  which  means  that  most  of  it  is  in  the  form 
of  the  finest  slime. 

Slime  Vanners,  Shannon  Concentrator. 

Grams.  %  %  Cu 

Left  on      20  mesh 

Left  on      30  mesh 

Left  on      40  mesh 

Left  on      60  mesh 

Left  on      80  mesh 

Left  on    100  mesh 

Left  on    120  mesh 

Left  on     150  mesh 0.64  0.45 

Left  on    200  mesh 1.84  1.30 

Through  200  mesh 138.51  98.24        1 13 

Totals  ..  ..140.99  99.99 


102  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 

The  tailings  from  the  Bartlett  tables  and  the  fine  jigs 
at  the  West  Yankee  mill,  together  with  the  tailings  from 
the  vanners  treating  the  intermediate  sized  products,  and 
the  slimes  from  the  hydraulic  classifier  below  the  reerush- 
ing  mills  are  all  retreated  on  a  series  of  vanners  on  the 
lower  vanner  floor,  where  a  last  effort  is  made  to  extract 
the  values.  During  the  month  of  June,  1901,  the  average 
extraction  obtained  on  the  slime  vanners  amounted  to 
64.0  per  cent.  Screen  analysis  of  the  feed  and  tailings 
from  these  vanners  showed: 

Feed. 

Grams.  %  Cu 

Left  on      80  mesh 1.65  1.19 

Left  on    100  mesh 1.30  0.22 

Left  on    150  mesh 5.50  3.93        0.98 

Left  on    200  mesh 2.10  1.52 

Through  200  mesh • 128.40  93.07         1.70 

Tailings. 

Left  on      80  mesh 2.10  1.67 

Left  on    100  mesh 0.80  0.63 

Left  on    150  mesh 7.70  6.12        0.40 

Left  on    200  mesh 1.10  0.87 

Through  200  mesh 114.00  90.69         1.00 

All  kinds  of  schemes  and  appliances  have  been  tried 
to  see  if  it  is  possible  to  obtain  a  higher  extraction  from 
these  slimes,  but  so  far  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  reduce 
the  copper  contents  of  the  general  tailings  below  0.7  per 
cent.  About  two  years  ago  an  elaborate  series  of  tests  was 
carried  out  at  Morenci  to  see  what  type  of  machines  gave 
the  best  results.  A  circular  tank,  divided  into  quadrants, 
each  compartment  feeding  a  different  machine;  received 
the  tailings  from  the  upper  vanner  floor  through  a  number 
of  revolving  arms  radiating  from  a  central  pipe,  so  that 
each  compartment  got  exactly  the  same  feed.  The  ma- 
chines tested  were  the  Wilfley  table,  the  Overstrom  table, 
the  Llewellyn  table  and  the  plain  belt  Frue  vanner,  each 
one  being  handled  by  a  man  sent  out  specially  from  the 
several  factories  to  look  after  them.  The  trial  extended 
over  a  number  of  weeks,  and  while  I  am  not  able  to  obtain 
full  records  of  the  test  it  is  significant  that  to-day  only 
Frue  vanners  are  being  used.  I  am  told  that  they  not  only 
had  the  greatest  capacity,  but  they  did  the  cleanest  work. 

The   tailings    from   the   lower   vanner   floor   are    all 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.     103 

brought  into  a  common  launder,  and  so  run  to  waste.    It 

is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  obtain  an  average  sample  of 
the  tailings  from  the  Shannon  concentrator,  as  the  stream 
is  so  strong,  and  the  launder  so  small.  The  following 
tables  represent  as  nearly  as  possible  the  screen  analysis 
of  representative  samples: 

General  Tailings,  Shannon  Concentrator. 

Cut  sample.    January  20th. 

Grains.  %          %  Cu 

Left  on      20  mesh .' 0.635  0.78 

Left  on      30  mesh 8.564  10.51 

Left  on      40  mesh 7.577  9.30 

Left  on      60  mesh 9.548  11.72 

Left  on      80  mesh 1.078  1.32     Not 

Left  on    100  mesh 2.777  3.41    As- 
Left  on     120  mesh 2.526  3.10     sayed 

Left  on    150  mesh 1.817  2.23 

Left  on    200  mesh 1.663  2.04 

Through  200  mesh 45.265  55.57 

Totals 81.450  99.98 

One-half  hour  samples  for  6  hours.    January  20th. 

Grams.  %          %  Cu 

Left  on      20  mesh 4.666  1.09        0.50 

Left  on      30  mesh 35.217  8.23         0.56 

Left  on      40  mesh 35.135  8.21        0.67 

Left  on      60  mesh 65.844  15.39        0.77 

Left  on      80  mesh 5.107  1.19        0.74 

Left  on    100  mesh 19.598  4.58        0.64 

Left  on    120  mesh 16.505  3.86        0.58 

Left  on    150  mesh 9.715  2.27        0.61 

Left  on    200  mesh 9.481  2.21         0.78 

Through  200  mesh 226.600  52.95         1.44 


Totals , 427.868  99.98 

General  Tailings,  Shannon  Concentrator. 

Coarse  screen;  hourly  samples  for  12  hours.    January  26th. 

Grams.            %  %  Cu 

Left  on      20  mesh 28.058            7.32  0.57 

Left  on      30  mesh y 65.360           17.03  0.68 

Left  on      40  mesh 37.205            9.70  0.73 

Left  on      60  mesh 65.18            16.99  0.86 

Left  on      80  mesh 9.61              2.55  0.75 

Left  on    100  mesh 21.145            5.51  0.74 

Left  on    120  mesh 14.340            3.74  0.87 

Left  on    150  mesh 6.920            1.80  0.98 

Left  on    200  mesh 6.595            1.72  1.10 

Through  200  mesh 129.150          33.67  1:32 

Totals 383.600         100.03 

The  Shannon  Company  are  fortunate  in  having  the 
San  Francisco  river  running  by  their  reduction  works,  so 
that  it  is  not  necessary  for  them  to  economize  as  the  De- 


104  •  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

troit  Copper  Company  have  to  do.  For  this  reason  there 
is  no  elaborate  system  of  settlers,  the  tailings  run  directly 
from  the  vanners  into  the  river  below. 

At  the  West  Yankee  concentrator,  where  it  is  neces- 
sary to  save  as  much  water  as  possible  and  return  it  to  the 
mill,  the  tailings  are  made  to  pass  through  a  number  of 
tanks,  and  as  much  solid  matter  as  will,  is  allowed  to  set- 
tle. Figure  3  shows  the  arrangement  of  the  tail  race.  In 
the  larger  tanks  the  current  is  very  slow  indeed,  and  the 
water  returned  to  the  mill  is  practically  clear.  The  coarser 
particles  settle  very  readily,  but  the  slimes  float  down  in 
the  last  tanks.  I  took  a  number  of  samples  of  the  settlings 
from  each  tank  and  screened  them  with  the  following  re* 

suits: 

Sample  A — 

%  %Cu 

Left  on      15  mesh 3.46          .3 

Left  on      20  mesh 20.3  .5 

Left  on      30  mesh 36.14          .55 

Left  on      60  mesh 32.67  '  .55 

Left  on      80  mesh 3.21          .38 

Left  on    100  mesh 2.23          .48 

Left  on    120  mesh 28          .6 

Through  120  mesh 1.73  1.3 

Total,  6  Ibs.  5  oz. 

Sample  B — 

%  %Cu 

Left  on      20  mesh 1.07          .6 

Left  on      30  mesh 8.60          .47 

Left  on      60  mesh 39.79          .32 

Left  on      80  mesh 10.71          .26 

Left  on    100  mesh 23.65          .41 

Left  on    120  mesh 1.07          .42 

Through  120  mesh 15.05  1.08 

Total,  1  Ib.  7  ozs. 

Sample  C — 

%  %  Cu 

Left  on      60  mesh 20.73  .27 

Left  on      80  mesh 9.75  .25 

Left  on    100  mesh 25.61  .3 

Left  on    120  mesh 3.66  .32 

Through  120  mesh 40.24  .85 

Total,  1  Ib.  4  ozs. 

Sample  D — 

%  %Cu 

Left  on      60  mesh 6.06          .3 

Left  on      80  mesh 4.54  .23 

Left  on    100  mesh 22.72  .27 

Left  on    120  mesh 6.06          .3 

Through  120  mesh 72.72  1.3 

Total,  8%  ozs. 


p       

%Cu 
92 

.97 

R 

.  .1.00 

s  

1.15 

T       

1.10 

U                   .    .  . 

1.11 

v 

1.02 

W 

.1.04 

X   . 

.  .96 

CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.     105 

Sample  E — 

%          %  Cu 

Left  on      80  mesh 1.54          .3 

Left  on    100  mesh 3.07          .5 

Left  on    120  mesh 3.07          .3 

Through  120  mesh 92.32  .86 

Total,  8%  ozs. 
All  Through  120-Mesh  Sieve — 

%Cu 

F    87 

G   '. 90 

H 89 

I 99 

J 94 

K 90 

L   90 

M 95 

N 93 

O 96 

Average  Copper  Contents  of  Tailings  0.68  Per  Cent. 

From  the  copies  of  the  monthly  reports  of  the  Detroit 
Copper  Company's  mill,  given  earlier  in  this  paper,  it  will 
be  seen  that  from  f  16,000  to  f  1^7,000  per  month  are  lost  in 
the  general  tailings,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  in  the 
fine  slimes.  I  figure  the  loss  to  the  Shannon  Copper  Com- 
pany from  this  same  source  to  be  about  f 9,000  per  month. 
With  such  heavy  losses,  a  very  careful  watch  must  be  kept 
to  prevent  the  tailings  running  high  in  copper  values,  and 
constant  sampling  will  alone  give  the  information  re- 
quired. Mr.  Hunt  of  the  Detroit  Company's  mills  has  de- 
signed a  very  ingenious  apparatus  for  automatically  sam- 
pling the  tailings.  Set  up  in  the  tail  race  is  an  undershot 
water  wheel  which  is  geared  with  a  shaft  on  which  is 
keyed,  at  one  end  a  segment  of  a  toothed  wheel.  It  is  so 
arranged  that  every  two  minutes  this  segment  shall  engage 
with  another  spur  wheel  keyed  to  a  shaft  on  which  a  long 
narrow  trough  is  fixed.  As  the  trough  revolves  it  cuts  a 
sample  clean  across  the  tailings  stream  and  diverts  it  into 
another  channel  and  so  to  the  sample  tanks  below.  Every 
shift  this  sample  vat  is  siphoned  off,  the  pulp  put  into  a 
filter  press  and  squeezed,  the  cake  is  dried  on  a  brick  fire, 
and  the  requisite  amount  of  pulp  taken  for  assay.  A 
Scobey  sampler  was  also  put  in  to  check  Mr.  Hunt's  appli- 
ance, and  the  difference  between  the  daily  returns  for  one 
month's  work  was  inappreciable. 

In  1901  I  commenced  a  series  of  experiments  on  oil 


106  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 

concentration  in  the  laboratory.  I  was  able  to  extract 
thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the  copper  values  from  the  tailings, 
but  I  had  not  the  proper  oils  at  my  disposal.  Mr.  Wallace, 
in  following  up  my  work,  got  better  results.  The  finest 
slime  on  which  he  experimented  assayed  one  and  twelve- 
hundredths  per  cent,  total  copper,  seventy-five-hundredths 
per  cent,  sulphides  and  thirty-seven-hundredths  per  cent, 
oxides.  After  a  prolonged  agitation  with  a  crude  oil  of 
nine-tenths  specific  gravity,  he  obtained  an  extraction  of 
seventy-nine  per  cent,  of  the  total  value,  which 
means  that  some  of  the  oxides  were  taken  up  by  the  oil, 
together  with  all  the  sulphides.  This  is  a  surprising  result, 
as  the  minute  grains  of  chalcocite  have  an  earthy  surface, 
which  does  not  lend  itself  to  the  selective  action  of  the  oils. 
However,  the  company  were  so  encouraged  by  the  results 
obtained  that  they  erected  a  two-unit  mill  to  test  the  pro- 
cess on  a  larger  scale.  It  was  proposed  to  treat  only  the 
finest  slimes.  The  tests  were  a  decided  failure,  and  after 
repeated  trials  under  competent  supervision  the  apparatus 
was  torn  down  and  discarded. 

The  disposal  of  the  tailings  is  becoming  a  very  serious 
question  in  the  district  for  reasons  already  given,  but  up  to 
the  present  time  no  solution  of  the  difficulty  has  presented 
itself.  To  utilize  the  coarser  tailing  as  filling  in  the  stopes 
has  been  tried,  but  the  cost  of  handling  is  prohibitive;  then 
it  has  been  proposed  to  build  an  immense  dam  across  Chase 
creek  and  so  keep  them  from  going  down  the  river.  Such 
a  scheme  is  reasonable,  but  with  the  periodic  cloudbursts, 
no  dam  could  withstand  the  pressure  of  these  thousands  of 
tons  of  tailings  together  with  the  great  quantity  of  water 
that  rushes  down  the  canyons.  Mr.Colquhoun  is  building 
a  number  of  large  concrete  settling  tanks  to  drain  off  the 
water  from  the  tailings  and  allow  them  to  solidify.  He  an- 
ticipates a  fair  measure  of  success.  At  the  Shannon  plant 
the  proposition  may  be  solved.  The  slag  dump  is  being 
slowly  carried  out  across  the  gulch,  into  which  all  the  tail- 
ings drain,  and  it  is  only  a  matter  of  time  when  an  enor- 
mous slag  dam  will  stop  the  passage  of  the  tailings  into 
the  river.  The  molten  slag  as  it  is  poiired  from  the  moulds 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.     107 

mixes  with  the  tailings  already  in  the  gulch  and  forms  a 
very  solid  rock  mass.  It  is  an  inexpensive  method  and  may 
be  effective  in  this  one  case,  for  the  gulch  into  which  the 
tailings  are  run  is  not  a  main  drainage  channel  of  the  dis- 
trict, and  even  though  a  cloud  burst  occurred  in  the  vicin- 
ity, in  all  probability  the  water  would  travel  another 

gulch. 

Concentrates. 

To  produce  a  clean  product  at  minimum  expense  is  the 
object  of  mill  work;  to  produce  from  lean  ores  a  rich  con- 
centrate is  the  aim  of  the  mill  man.  It  is  impossible  to 
smelt  a  three  per  cent,  ore  at  a  profit,  but  if  by  any  cheap 
mechanical  means  we  can  concentrate  five  tons  of  ore 
down  to  one  ton  of  concentrates,  we  have  a  product  suit- 
able for  furnace  work.  Especially  is  this  the  case  in  the 
blast  furnace  practice  of  copper  metallurgy.  The  copper, 
sulphur  and  iron  are  necessary  for  the  production  of  cop- 
per matte,  and  the  economical  mining  and  milling  of  these 
low  grade  sulphide  ores  has  made  bessemerizing  possible, 
with  the  result  that  the  output  of  pig  copper  from  the  Clif- 
ton-Morenci  district  approximates  to  ninety  tons  per  day. 

The  concentrates  obtained  in  the  Shannon  mill  are 
somewhat  siliceous.  A  partial  analysis  made  by  Mr.  Brad- 
lee  in  November  last,  showed: 

o/  <y 

/o  /o 

Copper   17.5  17.0 

Iron  15.4  16.7 

Silica 35.1  29.1 

Sulphur 19-5  20.95 

Alumina  9-3 

I  made  several  panning  tests  of  these  concentrates 
from  the  coarse  vanners  and  was  able  to  reduce  the  per- 
centage of  silica  very  considerably,  and  the  idea  has  been 
suggested  that  it  might  be  well  to  re-concentrate  the  con- 
centrates on  a  Wilfley  table  or  some  such  machine.  This  is 
a  matter  for  experiment. 

The  concentrates  obtained  from  the  West  Yankee  mill 
are  much  cleaner,  but  then  they  have  not  got  the  complex 
ore  of  the  Shannon  mine  to  treat.  Extracts  from  two  of 
the  monthly  reports  show: 


108  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

April,  1901.  June,  1901. 
%  Cu  %  Cu 

Coarse  jig  concentrates 30.87  22.40 

Fine  jig  concentrates 21.00  17.45 

Upper  vanner  concentrates 19.10  16.00 

Lower  vanner  concentrates 18.27  14.70 

All  the  concentrates  obtained  from  the  several  mills 
are  treated  in  the  same  way.  They  are  taken  to  the  smel- 
ter and  briquetted  with  the  flue  dust  from  the  furnaces  and 
the  fine  screenings  of  the  first-class  ore.  The  Chisholm, 
Boyd  &  White  briquetting  press  is  used  by  each  company, 
and  it  turns  out  a  hard,  compact  brick.  No  binding  mate- 
rial is  added  to  the  mixer.  As  the  bricks  are  taken  off  the 
belt  of  the  machine  they  are  stacked  up  on  the  feed  floor, 
and  shoveled  into  the  furnace  without  any  attempt  to  dry 
them  out.  They  do  not  disintegrate  in  the  furnace  readily. 

The  cost  of  milling  a  ton  of  ore  in  the  district  is  re- 
markably low,  considering  what  water  costs.  At  Morenci 
the  milling  cost  per  ton  of  ore  amounts  to  sixty  cents. 

Before  concluding,  I  should  point  out  the  necessity  of 
sampling  all  the  mill  products,  as  it  is  only  in  this  way 
that  a  mill  man  can  obtain  accurate  knowledge  of  his  work. 
All  products  should  be  sampled  at  least  once  every  shift, 
and  daily  reports  made.  It  is  a  very  simple  matter,  takes 
very  little  time  and  requires  no  additional  help.  In  Mo- 
renci the  results  of  the  month's  work  is  averaged  and  re- 
turned as  follows: 

West  Yankee  Concentrator.    June,  1901. 

West.  East. 

%Cu         %  % 

Crude  ore  4.20  

General  tailings 0.75  

Upper  vanner  tailings 0.60  0.54 

Lower  vanner  feed 1.98  0.83 

Lower  vanner  tailings 0.71  0.65 

Jig  tailings 0.77 

Lower  Bartlett  feed 0.97  1.39 

Lower  Bartlett  tailings 0.94  0.69 

Lower  Bartlett  concentrates 9.93  .  11.15 

Upper  Bartlett  tailings .    .  0.67 


Coarse  jig  concentrates 

Fine  jig  concentrates 

Upper  vanner  concentrates, 
Lower  vanner  concentrates. 


22.40 
17.45 
16.00 
14.70 


(Fines,  8.59%). 

In  this  brief  description  I  have  attempted  to  give  a 
general  outline  of  the  concentrator  practice  of  the  Clifton- 


CONCENTRATION  OF  COPPER  ORES  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST.     109 

Morenci  district,  thinking  that  the  methods  adopted,  and 
lines  of  research  suggested,  would  be  of  interest  to  the 
members  of  this  Congress.  While  I  have  not  been  able  to 
treat  the  subject  fully,  I  trust  the  information  given  will  be 
of  service  to  the  profession,  and  will  promote  a  lively  dis- 
cussion. When  treating  low  grade  ores  every  particular 
must  be  carefully  thought  out,  and  economy  practiced  in 
all  branches. 


The  Ryan  Electro-Magnetic  Concentrator. 

BY  JOHN  H.   RYAN. 

For  twenty-five  years  or  more  there  has  been  a  great 
diversity  of  opinion  among  mining  men  as  to  the  best  and 
most  practical  method  of  extracting  gold  and  other  metals 
that  are  known  to  exist  in  most  of  the  rivers,  and  along 
the  beaches  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 

It  is  an  undisputed  fact  that  in  many  of  the  rivers  head- 
ing in  theKocky  and  Coast  Range  mountains,  and  in  a  great 
many  locations  along  the  Pacific  Coast,  the  sands  carry 
gold  in  greater  or  lesser  quantity. 

Although,  during  this  period  of  time,  innumerable  ex- 
periments have  been  made  with  different  devices  to  ex- 
tract these  gold  values  none  of  these  ever  proved  to  be 
practicable  and  satisfactory. 

There  was  always  a  deterring  element  that  prevented 
the  recovery  of  the  gold.  Some  of  these  experimenters, 
after  long  and  tedious  work,  finally  found  that  all,  or  nearly 
all,  of  these  sands  carried  what  is  commonly  known  as 
"black  sand,"  technically  known  as  "magnetic  iron;" 
this  iron  is  sometimes  associated  with  manganese  in  combi- 
nation. This  "black  sand"  or  "magnetic  iron"  is  found  in 
the  form  of  very  fine  crystals,  being  exceedingly  fine,  al- 
most an  impalpable  powder;  and  this  "black  sand"  was  the 
deterring  element  that  all  of  these  experimenters  had  to 
contend  with. 

The  gold  that  is  contained  in  the  sand  is  also  very  fine, 
having  undergone  a  grinding  process  and  erosion  by  the 
elements,  as  it  has  been  carried  from  the  quartz  ledges  in 
the  mountains  where  it  was  originally  deposited  by  nature, 
down  the  course  of  the  rivers  to  the  ocean,  where  it  has 
been  washed  up  on  the  beaches  in  deposits  with  more  or 
less  of  the  black  sand. 

It  is  an  indisputable  fact,  that  wherever  a  deposit  of 
black  sand  has  been  found,  gold  will  also  be  found  in  more 
or  less  quantity. 


THE  RYAN  ELECTRO-MAGNETIC  CONCENTRATOR.  Ill 

Within  the  last  few  years  efforts  to  recover  the  gold 
known  to  exist  in  various  deposits  of  sand  along  the 
beaches  of  Oregon  and  California  have  practically  been 
abandoned.  The  reason  for  this  abandonment  is  the  inabil- 
ity to  save  the  gold  values  with  any  of  the  known  devices 
invented  for  this  purpose.  In  many  of  the  dredges  that  are 
being  operated,  they  lose  more  than  one-half  of  the  values 
contained  in  the  sand,  owing  to  this  deterring  element, 
"magnetic  iron." 

It  is  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  many  of  those  who  have 
experimented  with  the  beach  and  river  sands,  that  the  gold 
is  held  in  combination  with  the  magnetic  iron  and  could 
not  be  saved,  and  with  this  knowledge  they  gave  up. 

With  practically  all  of  these  devices  in  the  past  they 
were  built  on  some  plan  of  sluicing,  and  when  an  effort  to 
clean  up  was  made,  the  riffles  would  be  found  to  contain 
principally  black  sand.  Assays  of  this  product  would  show 
gold  values,  but  all  efforts  to  separate  the  gold  from  this 
black  sand  were  unavailable,  and  in  consequence  of  this 
state  of  things  many  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  iron 
held  the  gold  in  combination.  Then  came  different  experi- 
ments to  extract  the  gold  from  the  black  sand,  with  indif- 
ferent results. 

It  is  the  firm  opinion  of  the  writer  that  the  two  go 
together,  but  that  they  are  separate  and  distinct  as  far  as 
any  amalgamation  of  the  two  are  concerned.  The  black 
sand  or  magnetic  iron  being  very  fine,  and  the  gold  also  be- 
ing very  fine,  perhaps  in  most  instances  particle  for  parti- 
cle, they  are  almost  the  same  molecular  weight,  or  near 
enough  so,  that  when  sluiced  they  form  very  close  concen- 
trate, practically  eradicating  all  other  substances,  and  the 
iron  holding  the  gold  so  closely  together  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  amalgamate  the  gold.  Some  operators  have  claimed 
that  the  gold  was  "flake"  or  "flour"  gold,  and  would  always 
float  on  the  water,  consequently  could  not  be  amalga- 
mated. This  to  a  certain  degree  I  do  not  think  correct.  It 
is  my  opinion  that  the  gold  is  free  when  eradicated  from 
the  deterring  element  the  "black  sand"  and  also  that  the 
gold  can  be  amalgamated  without  any  difficulty  when  freed 


112  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

from  the  black  sand.  Out  of  this  chaos  a  new  order  of 
things  has  evolved;  with  the  advent  of  a  new  invention, 
the  Ryan  Electro-Magnetic  Concentrator,  this  deterring 
element,  the  black  sand  or  magnetic  iron,  can  be  separated 
from  the  sand  by  itself,  and  become  an  article  of  commer- 
cial utility.  Magnetic  iron  is  the  finest  iron  in  the  world, 
and  comands  a  price  of  |22.50  to  $30  per  ton  when  reduced 
to  pig  iron. 

After  the  sand  has  passed  through  the  Magnetic  Con- 
centrator and  the  magnetic  iron  having  been  taken  from  it, 
the  sand  with  the  deterring  element  removed  is  ready  for 
the  amalgamator,  when  the  gold  values  may  be  recovered 
with  a  proper  amalgamating  apparatus.  Thus  the  Electro- 
Magnetic  Concentrator  will  open  up  a  field  that  has  been 
practically  abandoned,  and  will  produce  an  article  of  com- 
merce that  is  much  needed  on  this  coast,  as  well  as  opening 
up  a  field  for  the  recovery  of  gold,  that  is  practically  un- 
limited. For  it  is  a  proven  and  demonstrated  fact  that 
there  are  large  deposits  of  gold  and  iron-bearing  sands 
along  the  Oregon  and  California  coasts;  also  some  are 
known  to  exist  inland  in  both  states.  Then  again,  it  is 
known  that  the  sand  in  the  Snake  and  upper  Columbia 
rivers,  also  the  Klamath  and  several  rivers  in  California, 
carry  good  values  in  gold,  and  the  same  trouble  has  been 
encountered  in  trying  to  save  the  values  in  these  rivers,  as 
on  the  beaches;  and  all  efforts  are  only  a  partial  success. 

With  the  use  of  the  Ryan  Electro-Magnetic  Concentra- 
tor all  of  the  values  may  be  saved  at  a  very  small  cost  of 
operation,  leaving  very  liberal  and  handsome  profits  for  the 
operators. 


Geology  and  Mineral  Resources  of  Wyoming. 

HENRY    C.    BEELER,    STATE    GEOLOGIST,    CHEYENNE,    WYOMING. 

For  the  past  thirty  years  the  impression  has  gone  forth 
among  mining  men  throughout  the  West  that  Wyoming- 
was  only  good  for  a  cattle  pasture  and  that  it  was  useless 
to  spend  any  time  in  looking  for  the  precious  metals  within 
her  borders,  so  the  majority  of  the  mining  profession  have 
simply  looked  wise  when  Wyoming  was  mentioned  and 
carefully  avoided  anything  like  an  investigation  of  her  ge- 
ology and  mineral  resources,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  her 
neighbors  on  all  four  sides  have  been  remarkable  for  their 
increasing  production  of  all  the  economic  minerals. 

It  appears  to  be  characteristic  of  all  the  states  around 
Wyoming  that  their  minerals  are  confined  to  one  well  de- 
fined belt  extending  through  some  portion  of  the  state  and 
the  various  camps  connected  by  ranges  of  mountains  with 
their  main  characteristics  similar  in  each  case.  In  Wyom- 
ing, however,  this  is  not  the  case,  as  minerals  noted  within 
our  borders  have  been  found  all  over  the  state,  from  one 
corner  to  the  other,  as  the  whole  area  of  97,890  square  miles 
contributes  its  quota  to  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  state,  but 
development  has  been  backward  and  has  only  taken  place 
in  those  localities  most  readily  accessible  or  best  advertised 
and  the  work  has  been  confined  to  a  very  limited  area  as 
compared  with  the  total  area  of  the  state.  Geologically  the 
main  feature  of  the  state  is  the  chain  of  mountains  which 
extends  across  the  Grand  Encampment  region,  in  southern 
Carbon  county,  where  the  Sierra  Madre  and  Medicine  Bow 
mountains  appear,  northwesterly  across  the  state  taking 
in  the  Wind  River  Range  and  including  the  Absarka 
mountains  southeast  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park, 
and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  major  portion  of 
this  main  uplift  remains  unexplored  from  a  mineral 
standpoint,  even  though  the  great  Sweetwater  Mining  Re- 
gion, better  known  as  the  South  Pass  Country,  lies  directly 
on  this  line.  East  of  the  northern  portion  of  this  range  is 


PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

the  Big  Horn  Basin  uplift  containing  similar  general  feat- 
ures, and  southeast  of  the  Big  Horn  occurs  the  Laramie 
Hills  and  Laramie  Peak  region,  whose  general  features 
are  also  similar  to  the  main  Wind  River  uplift. 

In  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  state,  the  western 
edge  of  the  Black  Hills  of  South  Dakota  extend  into  Wyo- 
ming for  many  miles  and  the  famous  Nigger  Hill  Placers 
were  found  in  this  locality,  though  little  has  been  done 
toward  developing  the  leads  at  this  point  until  very  re- 
cently. 

West  of  the  Wind  River  ranges  is  the  Teton  Country, 
where  numerous  ranges  of  smaller  uplifts  have  been  giving 
up  copper  specimens  for  many  years,  though  this  region 
seems  to  be  left  to  the  game  and  to  forest  reserves. 

In  the  country  lying  east  of  these  main  ranges  and  the 
better  known  portion  of  the  state  are  numerous  small  up- 
lifts and  ranges  and  in  some  of  these  some  of  the  most  ex- 
tensive mineral  deposits  of  the  state  are  found,  notably 
the  Hartville  and  Whalen  Canon  uplift  where  the  Sunrise 
iron  mines  are  being  developed. 

About  six  years  ago  a  townsite  boom  was  started  at 
the  forks  of  the  Grand  Encampment  River  in  Southern 
Carbon  county,  forty-four  miles  south  of  the  main  line  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  on  the  strength  of  a  few  extra- 
ordinarily rich  gold  specimens  found  in  Purgatory  Gulch 
in  that  vicinity.  Prospectors  flocked  in  and  the  gold  boom 
apparently  exploded  in  a  very  short  time,  but  in  the  mean 
time  the  famous  Ferris-Haggarty  Copper  mine  had  been 
found,  sixteen  miles  west  of  the  townsite. 

The  old  Doane-Rambler  Copper  mine  was  being 
worked  again  and  the  new  Rambler  mine  was  opened  up  in 
the  Medicine  Bow  Mountains  east  of  the  Encampment  and 
attention  was  turned  to  copper  with  the  result  that  there 
are  fifty  steam  plants  now  operating  in  this  vicinity.  A 
smelter  and  concentrating  works  has  been  erected  and  is 
now  in  operation,  constructed  on  a  500-ton  capacity  basis 
and  now  produces  a  car  of  blister  copper  per  day.  A  tram- 
way was  built  from  the  smelter  to  the  Ferris-Haggarty 
mine  (sixteen  miles)  and  most  of  the  ore  for  the  smelter 


GEOLOGY  AND  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  WYOMING.          115 

comes  from  the  Ferris-Haggarty  mine.  This  mine  is  a 
huge  contact  deposit  between  schist  and  quartzite  and  most 
of  the  successful  properties  of  this  region  have  been  found 
in  deposits  of  this  character,  (secondary  deposits)  though 
a  number  of  other  properties  in  which  the  ores  are  found 
in  the  original  formation,  (primary  deposits)  as  the  Verde 
Mine,  south  of  Battle,  and  the  New  Eambler  Mine  already 
mentioned,  which  seems  to  be  a  series  of  fissures  in  dioritic 
granites  are  exceptions  to  this  general  rule. 

The  general  formation  of  the  Encampment  Country  is 
a  fine  grained  Algonkian  schist  with  bands  of  diorite  and 
allied  rocks  and  quartzites  lying  therein,  and  there  are 
some  limited  exposures  of  granite  in  the  Battle  Lake  and 
New  Eambler  vicinity.  In  these  formations  the  same  gen- 
eral characteristics  of  a  heavy  oxidized  iron  cap  has  been 
noted  in  every  instance  where  successful  operations  have 
been  conducted,  this  condition  being  especially  marked  on 
the  Ferris-Haggarty,  Doane-Rambler,  and  New  Rambler 
mines.  These  same  general  conditions,  in  a  lesser  degree 
perhaps,  are  noted  at  a  dozen  other  points  in  the  state 
where  copper  prospecting  is  now  going  on,  especially  in  the 
Silver  Crown  district  near  Cheyenne;  in  the  North  Laramie 
Peak  district,  near  Douglas  in  the  east-central  portion  of 
the  state;  at  Copper  mountain  near  Thermopolis  and  at  sev- 
eral other  points  in  the  Wind  River  range.  At  each  of 
these  points  there  are  many  strong  indications  that  with 
proper  development  a  number  of  profitable  camps  will  be 
opened  up. 

Nearly  forty  years  ago  the  South  Pass  Gold  Mines 
and  Placers  were  the  talk  of  the  mining  profession  and  the 
surface  showings  were  certainly  remarkable,  but  as  all  the 
work  of  this  district  was  confined  to  comparatively  few 
high  grade  lenses  and  work  was  promptly  stopped  wrhen 
water  level  was  reached,  mining  men  in  general  became 
convinced  that  the  Sweetwater  mines  were  merely  surface 
showings  and  were  a  good  thing  to  keep  away  from.  Re- 
cently, however,  a  more  sane  view  has  prevailed  and  a 
number  of  experienced,  practical  mining  men  have  taken 
up  the  development  of  several  prominent  properties,  nota- 


116  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

bly  the  Carissa  at  South  Pass,  which  produced  millions  in 
the  old  days  from  a  very  limited  portion  of  its  territory. 
The  greatest  depth  yet  obtained  on  the  Carissa  is  about 
400  feet  and  a  crosscut  has  been  run  across  the  adjacent 
crystalline  schists,  which  include  the  original  lenses  of 
high  grade  ore,  for  a  distance  of  180  feet  has  shown  a  num- 
ber of  extraordinary  conditions  and  demonstrated  beyond 
a  doubt  that  the  ore  bodies  of  the  South  Pass  District  are 
great  bodies  of  low  grade  free  milling  ore,  as  tests  on  this 
crosscut  show  an  average  mill  value  of  f 6  per  ton  for  the 
whole  180  feet. 

There  are  a  number  of  other  works  in  the  vicinity, 
notably  the  Dexter  crosscut  tunnel  at  Atlantic,  four  miles 
from  South  Pass,  now  being  run  to  cut  a  number  of  rich 
leads  worked  in  the  old  days.  This  tunnel  has  cut  three 
blind  leads  in  the  length  of  300  feet,  and  conditions  similar 
to  those  noted  at  the  Carissa  have  been  shown. 

The  South  Pass  District  is  an  island  of  metamorphic 
fine  grained  schists,  about  thirty  miles  long  and  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  miles  wide  and  is  practically  virgin 
ground,  the  deepest  work  being  the  Carissa,  which  is  down 
400  feet,  as  before  mentioned. 

The  country  immediately  surrounding  the  National 
Park  has  been  condemned  by  numerous  mining  men,  but 
the  development  of  the  past  four  years  in  this  vicinity  has 
shown  that  these  formations  which  have  been  so  univer- 
sally derided  as  mineral  producing,  contain  profitable  min- 
erals, and  are  being  opened  up  by  men  who  are  willing  to 
take  long  chances  in  a  virgin  field  and  they  are  being  re- 
warded for  their  efforts. 

At  Kirwin,  on  Wood  River,  southwest  of  Meeteetse, 
on  the  south  fork  of  the  Shoshone  and  at  Sunlight  Basin, 
northwest  of  Cody,  works  are  being  constructed  with  show- 
ings that  compare  very  favorably  with  a  number  of  prom- 
inent properties  in  other  states,  gold,  silver,  lead  and  cop- 
per being  the  minerals  opened  up. 

The  fuel  resources  of  Wyoming  are  perhaps  better 
known  than  any  other  of  the  mineral  resources  of  the  state, 
but  many  will  be  surprised  to  know  that  the  workable  coal 


GEOLOGY  AND  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  WYOMING.          117 

area  of  Wyoming  is  conservatively  estimated  at  20,000 
square  miles,  only  a  very  small  portion  of  which  has  been 
developed,  and  that  each  county  of  the  state,  each  mining 
district,  each  agricultural  section  has  been  amply  pro- 
vided with  a  suitable  fuel  in  sufficient  quantities  to  take 
care  of  all  demands  for  generations.  The  standard  of 
Wyoming  coal  is  and  has  been  the  Kock  Springs  coal  from 
the  Union  Pacific  railroad  mines  and  a  number  of  other 
properties  of  similar  grade  have  been  opened  up  all  over 
the  state,  the  total  production  for  coal  for  the  year  1903 
amounting  to  4,602,929  tons. 

Most  of  the  Wyoming  coal  is  lignite  and  non-coking, 
but  suitable  for  steam  and  all  heating  purposes.  There  is 
only  one  known  deposit  of  semi-bituminous  coking  coal,  at 
Cambria,  Weston  county,  and  recently  a  vein  has  been 
opened  up  in  the  Ham's  Fork  Field,  Uinta  county,  that  pro- 
duces a  splendid  coke  under  ordinary  conditions  in  a  bee- 
hive oven. 

This  is  not  the  only  fuel  available  for  the  mining  men 
in  Wyoming,  as  there  are  eighteen  oil  fields  of  well  defined 
extent  in  eight  of  the  thirteen  counties  of  the  state  and 
the  products  of  these  fields  vary  from  the  highest  grade  of 
illuminating  and  heating  oils,  free  from  the  lubricants,  to 
the  highest  grade  of  lubricating  oil  now  known,  entirely 
free  from  illuminating  constituents  of  any  sort;  these  fields 
are  simply  in  their  infancy,  only  a  few  wells  having  been 
drilled  in  each  field.  It  is  up  to  the  mining  man  to  furnish 
a  market  for  the  fuel  oils  and  promote  a  great  industry 
that  is  now  practically  dormant. 

The  lubricating  oils  of  Salt  creek  are  refined  at  Casper 
and  have  an  international  reputation  for  excellence.  From 
this  oil  seventeen  varieties  of  lubricants  are  produced, 
varying  from  a  light  watch  oil  to  heavy  cylinder  oil  and 
compressor  and  axle  greases. 

The  best  Bessemer  ore  in  the  West  cornea  from  the 
Sunrise  iron  mines,  north  of  Cheyenne,  and  the  total  prod- 
uce of  these  mines  is  used  at  the  Pueblo,  Colorado,  steel 
works.  This  ore  lies  in  huge  flat  deposits,  is  mined  by 
steam  shovel  methods  and  has  simply  been  touched  by  the 


118  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 

present  operations.  In  several  other  parts  of  the  state 
similar  bodies  of  iron  are  noted  and  only  need  transporta- 
tion to  be  placed  on  the  market. 

The  largest  natural  soda  deposits  or  lakes  in  the  West 
are  scattered  over  Wyoming  and  the  product  is  of  remark- 
able purity.  It  varies  from  the  bi-carbonates  to  the  pure 
Epsom  salts  and  production  has  only  been  kept  back  by 
lack  of  cheap  transportation. 

This  is  only  an  outline  of  what  is  found  in  Wyoming 
but  it  will  certainly  pay  the  thorough  investigator  to  come 
to  Wyoming  and  see  for  himself  what  the  facts  are.  There 
is  no  need  to  exploit  or  paint  in  glowing  colors  the  re- 
sources of  this  state.  The  story  has  been  told  so  often 
that  a  repetition  would  be  monotonous  to  the  man  who  is 
looking  for  a  country  free  from  competition  of  the  older 
mining  camps,  free  from  labor  troubles  and  strifes;  this  is 
the  place  and  a  number  of  the  best  mining  men  of  the  coun- 
try axe  rapidly  finding  it  out,  with  the  result  that  there  is 
many  times  the  amount  of  actual  development  work  now 
in  progress  than  at  any  other  time  in  the  history  of  the 
state  with  every  promise  that  a' few  years  more  will  give 
Wyoming  a  recognized  place  in  the  mineral  producers  of 
the  West. 


Mineral  Resources  and  Mining  in  Oregon. 

BY  FRANK  V.  DRAKE. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen    of   The   American  Mining 

Congress: 

In  journeying  to  this  assemblage  those  of  you  who 
came  from  the  north  crossed  the  Great  Kiver  of  the  West. 
On  May  11,  1792,  Capt.  Robert  Gray  entered  this  river  in 
the  good  ship  "Columbia"  and  bestowed  the  name  of  his 
vessel  on  the  stream.  From  the  ship's  mast  head  the  iden- 
tical flag  fashioned  by  the  cunning  hands  of  Betsey  Ross 
(the  first  American  flag  ever  made)  flouted  defiance  to  its 
foes  and  tokened  dominion  over  the  western  world.  This 
first  flag,  on  this  good  ship,  was  the  new  republic's  first 
messenger  around  the  world.  The  captain's  sea  chest 
wherein  was  stored  the  flag  when  not  at  the  peak,  is  here 
in  your  midst,  the  property  of  the  Oregon  Historical 
Society. 

Some  of  you  on  entering  the  state  from  the  east  passed 
over  a  range  called  the  Blue  mountains.  Others  coming 
from  the  south  crossed  the  Siskiyou  mountains,  on  enter- 
ing Oregon.  In  either  case  you  enjoyed  unsurpassable 
scenery  and  severally  encountered  the  present  feet  of  what 
in  early  geological  times  were  twin  islands,  the  genesis  of 
the  North  Pacific  coast. 

In  the  beginning  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Blue  moun- 
tain range  and  the  Siskiyou  mountain  were  two  islands 
far  off  the  then  western  coast  of  what  is  now  North  Amer- 
ica; mere  granite  peaks  in  a  world  of  waters.  So  that  in 
much  of  your  journey  ings  here,  to  our  honor  and  pleasure, 
you  have  reached  us  by  traversing  an  ancient  ocean  bed 
somewhat  exalted  and  crumpled  now  and  in  part  covered 
with  modern  lavas,  and  crossed  the  feet  of  two  very  old 
islands,  the  geological  parents  of  this  lovely  and  wonderful 
state. 

At  this  day,  standing  on  the  summit  of  the  ancient 
Blue  mountain  island  you  are  surrounded,  not  by  a  shore- 
less sea,  but  by  hundreds  of  majestic  mountains,  bald  of 


120  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

head,  their  faces  gashed  and  wrinkled  with  canons  and 
gorges  and  bearded  with  dense,  dark  firs,  cedars  and  pines, 
the  unshorn  growth  of  the  centuries.  These  are  the  giants 
which  hoard  the  treasure  vaults  of  Eastern  Oregon.  They, 
with  intervening  valleys,  cover  a  territory  nearly  equaling 
in  extent  the  combined  areas  of  the  states  of  Massachu- 
setts, Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut. 

Standing  upon  the  summit  of  that  other  ancient 
island,  the  Siskiyou  (designated  in  United  States  Govern- 
ment surveys  as  "Klamath")  you  are  surrounded  by  an- 
other array  of  sentinels,  wrinkled  and  whiskered  like  their 
brothers,  guarding  immeasurable  treasures  in  Southern 
Oregon  *and  covering  an  area  of  over  15,000  square  miles. 

Coming  northward  through  Central  Western  Oregon, 
a  section  often  locally  embraced  in  the  general  designation 
"Southern  Oregon,"  you  cross  the  more  modern  ranges  of 
the  Kogue  and  Calipooia,  and  here  again  the  massive  hills, 
all  bearded  and  unshorn,  are  hoarding  limitless  treasures 
for  the  good  of  the  industrious  and  hopeful  men  who  dare 
attempt  great  deeds  for  great  wealth.  The  area  of  the  richly 
mineralized  portion  of  this  section  equals  in  extent  at  least 
one  of  the  populous  and  wealthy  New  England  states. 

In  1845  at  the  feet  of  that  old  Blue  Mountain  island, 
the  second  discovery  of  gold  in  the  present  limits  of  the 
United  States  was  made.  Marshall,  who  made  the  dis- 
covery in  California  in  1848,  was  an  Oregon  emigrant.  It 
was  this  third  discovery  that  set  the  world  ablaze  with  uni- 
versal desire  to  get  riches  quickly.  That  desire  has  not 
perceptibly  abated  with  the  passing  years.  Gold  was 
found  on  the  Santiam  river  in  1847,  but  the  immigrating 
Missourians  of  that  day  had  not  developed  fully  the  char- 
acteristic desire  to  "know  things  by  seeing  them"  and 
didn't  yet  know  gold  when  they  saw  it.  The  stories  of  their 
conjectures  as  to  what  the  yellow  stuff  really  was  are  both 
pathetic  and  ludicrous.  It  was  useful,  however,  and  nuggets 
tsvere  easily  hammered  into  sinkers  suitable  for  their  fish- 
jhooks.  Later,  millions  of  ounces  of  the  royal  metal  mined 
from  the  placers  in  Oregon  went  into  history  as  California 
gold. 


• .    MINERAL  RESOURCES  AND  MINING  IN  OREGON.  121 

Gold  Coinage  in  Oregon  in  1849. 

The  provisional  government,  which  had  been  organ- 
ized pending  the  determination  of  the  controversy  between 
the  United  States  and  England  for  dominion  over  the  Ore- 
gon territory,  through  an  act  passed  and  approved  by  the 
then  governor  early  in  1849,  established  a  mint  at  Oregon 
City.  Coinage  of  $5  and  f  10  gold  pieces  was  authorized. 
The  mint,  with  dies  shaped  from  old  wagon  tires,  was  con- 
structed by  American  mechanics  and  the  first  coins  minted 
on  this  coast  were  of  pure  gold.  The  image  of  a  beaver 
appeared  on  each  coin,  whence  the  name  "Beaver  Money." 

Oregon,  with  proper  modesty,  of  course,  desires  facts 
admitted  of  historical  record  that  the  first  discovery  of 
gold  in  the  Atlantic  southeastern  states,  made  in  the  early 
history  of  the  nation,  was  seconded  by  a  like  discovery  in 
this  Pacific  Northwest  and  preceded  the  find  in  California 
in  1848;  further,  that  Oregon  made  the  first  Pacific  coast 
gold  coins,  contributed  mightily  to  the  golden  glory  of  Cal- 
ifornia and  now  proposes  to  become  and  continue  an  active 
rival  of  her  admirable  sisters  in  the  production  of  the  pre- 
cious metals  and  other  commercial  minerals. 

Oregon's  modesty  has  been  detrimental  to  her,  his- 
torically and  industrially,  especially  in  the  department  of 
mines  and  minerals.  Her  legislators,  even,  have  not  met 
the  needs  of  the  times  in  recognition  of  the  industry;  but 
better  things  are  stored  in  the  near  future. 

Obstruction  to  Development. 

Furthermore,  various  coincident  conditions  retarded 
development  in  this  line.  The  first  discoverers  did  not 
know  gold.  They  were  trappers,  farmers  and  missionaries; 
They  were  far  removed  from  governmental  protection  and 
the  British  claimed  the  territory.  Congress,  uninformed, 
was  obstructive,  almost  antagonistic,  to  the  purposes  of  the 
far  away  pioneers.  Unlike  the  passive,  even  helpful  Dig- 
ger Indians  of  California,  the  Oregon  Indians  were  mur- 
derously aggressive  and  many  of  them  had  to  be  killed. 
The  mountains  were  prodigious,  covered  deeply  with  soil 
and  timber  and  prospecting  for  minerals  was  laborious  and 


122  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

slow.  The  unexcelled  forests,  prairies,  fish-stocked  rivers 
and  multitudinous  herds  and  flocks  of  fat  game  attracted 
the  man  who  did  not  come  looking  for  mines.  Develop- 
ment of  the  state's  mineral  resources  was  therefore  slow 
and  the  early  miners  took  only  a  small  part  of  the  most 
accessible  and  easily  gotten  coarse  gold  of  the  placers. 
Sluicing  and  rocking  was  the  limit  of  the  early  days. 

An  Oregon  Contemporary  of  the  Father  of  Geology. 

Volumes  must  be  written  after  many  years  of  explora- 
tion and  study,  before  the  geological  story  can  be  fairly 
well  known.  The  science  is  young  and  has  not  progressed 
very  far.  We  have,  living  within  view  of  our  city's  heights, 
a  yet  young  woman,  mentally  and  physically  vigorous, 
who,  during  her  lifetime,  was  a  contemporary  of  William 
Smith  ("Strata"  Smith),  the  acknowledged  father  of  geol- 
ogy. This  lady  of  only  117  summers,  is  older  than  the  new- 
born science  which  we  call  geology. 

This  youthful  and  vigorous  science,  while  helpful  to 
the  miner,  is  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  of  slow  deter- 
minate growth.  Problems  of  the  rocks  present  many  con- 
jectural propositions.  Miners  cannot  wait  for  absolute 
conclusions,  but  with  the  aid  of  accumulating  knowledge 
can  press  on  to  meet  the  demands  of  an  intensely  utilitar- 
ian age.  So  that  the  "nebular  hypothesis"  as  compared 
with  the  later  "aggregation"  theory,  or  any  other  theory 
of  the  earth's  beginning,  is  relatively  unimportant  to  this 
Congress  of  men  representing  those  who  are  engaged  in 
exploiting  the  active  present. 

It  is  not  at  all  certain  that  the  rocks  of  those  various, 
somewhat  arbitrary,  ages  are  the  same  in  point  of  time  in 
different  parts  of  the  world;  that  the  Cambrian,  for  in- 
stance, of  the  old  world  was  contemporaneous  with  the 
cambrian  of  the  new  world;  nor  that  the  trilobites  of 
Europe  existed  contemporaneously  with  those  of  Colorado; 
nor  that  the  coal  measures  in  the  long  permanently  frozen 
arctics  were  created  in  the  same  (carboniferous)  age  as 
those  of  the  tropics.  There  may  have  been  several  millions 
of  years  between  the  uplift  of  like  rock  structures  in  dif- 


MINERAL  RESOURCES  AND  MINING  IN  OREGON.  123 

ferent  sections  of  the  crust.  Like  conditions  may  have 
existed  at  different  localities  at  long  different  intervals  of 
time.  Occasionally  the  rocks  of  one  "epoch"  are  wholly 
absent  from  the  place  scientifically  allotted  ta  them — as 
the  Devonian,  in  Colorado. 

In  the  wonderful  fossil  beds  of  the  John  Day  country, 
Eastern  Oregon,  at  the  present  base  of  the  original  Blue 
Mountain  island,  are  remains  of  mammals,  long  extinct; 
the  horse,  three-toed  at  first,  is  there  found  in  progressive 
stages  of  development;  also  the  camel,  elephant,  broad 
faced  ox,  mastodon  and  mammoth,  with  remains  of  a  trop- 
ical vegetation.  Kemains  of  like  tropical  animals  and  trop- 
ical vegetation  are  abundant  in  the  "Stirling  Creek"  plac- 
ers at  the  foot  of  that  other  ancient  island,  the  Siskiyou 
(Klamath).  Yearly  for  fifteen  years  last  past  the  hydraulic 
giants  have  unearthed  large  fossils  of  former  tropical  fauna 
and  flora  on  Stirling  creek. 

Mineral  Resources  of  Oregon. 

For  reasons  heretofore  alluded  to  the  mineral  re- 
sources of  the  state  are  but  slightly  developed.  They  are 
mostly  "prospects."  The  state  is  large,  the  inhabitants 
few,  the  mining  sections  big  in  size  and  in  promise,  but 
widely  dispersed.  All  that  can  be  done  here  in  the  way  of 
description  is  to  "concentrate''  the  material  to  the  utmost 
—get  it  down  to  cupellation  if  possible.  I  can  safely  say, 
at  the  start,  that  much  valuable  stuff  will  go,  necessarily, 
for  the  present,  into  the  waste  dump.  Of  course,  critics 
are  sure  to  overhaul  the  dump;  you  know  how  it  is,  your- 
selves. 

Most  of  the  known  minerals,  including  those  peculiar 
to  meteorites,  are  found  in  Oregon.  A  magnificent  meteor- 
ite, recently  discovered  near  this  city,  is  convenient  for 
your  inspection.  We  think  it  surpasses  the  specimen 
which  helped  to  make  Montana  famous.  It  is  twenty  feet 
in  length,  seven  feet  four  inches  wide,  five  feet  seven  inches 
in  thickness  and  is  estimated  to  be  twenty  tons  in  weight. 

The  geological  conditions  of  the  three  divisions,  East- 
ern, Southern  and  Central  Western  Oregon,  favor  strongly 


124  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 

the  presence  of  gold  and  other  of  the  valuable  metals  and 
minerals;  there  are  granites,  limestones,  diorites,  andesites, 
argillites,  calcites,  greenstones,  quartz,  quartzites  and 
porphyries — briefly,  the  old  formations  and  the  slates, 
schists,  eruptives,  faults  and  fissuring  common  to  such 
countries.  The  flow  of  lavas,  chiefly  of  basalt,  has  been 
enormous,  covering  large  areas.  Portland  metallurgists 
have  overcome  incredulity  and  proven  that  sections  of 
basalt  in  the  Cascade  mountains  carry  gold  to  the  amounts 
of  from  $2  to  |20  per  ton,  some  samples  going  to  $70  per 
ton. 

Each  of  the  specified  general  divisions  of  the  state  em- 
braces great  numbers  of  local  mining  "districts,"  with 
boundaries  ill-defined  and  having,  as  elsewhere,  character- 
istics distinct  from  others.  A  description  of  one  would  not 
suffice  for  any  other,  would  be  tedious,  taken  as  invidious, 
and  is  unnecessary  here. 

Gold  is  Oregon's  Chief  Mineral  Product. 

The  chief  metallic  product  of  the  state  is  gold.  The 
past  output  and  present  production  of  Oregon  gold  has 
been  variously  estimated.  There  are  no  means  of  deter- 
mining either.  The  state  has  never  attempted  inquiry.  It 
is  known  from  a  few  brief  and  scattered  records,  from 
statements  of  old  residents  of  localities,  and  the  area  and 
character  of  mining  workings  of  the  past,  that  the  aggre- 
gate must  be  enormous.  The  records  of  one  bank,  still 
doing  business  in  Jacksonville,  show  early  shipments 
through  the  institution  of  $28,000,000  in  gold  dust,  and 
this  bank  did  but  a  part  of  the  business  of  that  locality. 

The  placer  workings  have  been  extensive  in  both  East- 
ern and  Southern  Oregon.  Obstructions  before  mentioned, 
together  with  absence  of  means  for  transporting  supplies 
and  machinery  for  hoisting  ores  and  constructing  mills 
have  delayed  search  for  the  opening  of  the  gold  mines. 

At  various  points  on  the  ocean  beaches  gold  has  been 
profitably  mined.  In  some  localities  the  returns  enriched 
the  workers  substantially.  A  great  variety  of  machines 
and  amalgamating  and  metallurgical  devices  have  been 


MINERAL  RESOURCES  AND  MINING  IN  OREGON.  125 

tried,  but  saving  of  a  high  percentage  of  the  values  has 
not  been  attained. 

Dredging  machines,  some  of  great  power  and  capacity, 
have  recently  been  installed  in  different  localities  where 
water  is  scarce  and  dump  facilities  wanting.  Hydraulic 
elevators  are  used  when  available  and  the  bed  rock 
"pitches"  the  wrong  way.  Smelters  for  wet  and  refractory 
ores  are  being  erected.  Cyanide  is  used  at  several  plants 
successfully,  and  marked  improvements  in  mining  and 
treating  the  lower  grade  ores  are  being  made.  Oregon's 
numerous  and  rapid  water  streams  and  waterfalls,  having 
in  one  instance  800  feet  sheer  descent,  are  becoming  impor- 
tant factors  through  the  creation  of  electric  power. 

It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  a  list  of  mining  claims 
in  the  state;  there  are  over  a  thousand  lode  records  in  one 
district,  and  there  are  over  one  hundred  recognized  mining 
districts  in  the  state.  These  claims  are  in  various  condi- 
tions, as  is  usual  in  all  mining  localities.  Some,  are  aban- 
doned, some  mere  prospects,  some  in  process  of  develop^ 
ment,  and  some  splendid,  profitable  mines  with  big  machin- 
ery and  milling  plants. 

Some  of  the  placers  have  been  and  are  exceedingly 
profitable,  and  some  have  very  complete  and  powerful 
equipments,  such  as  batteries  of  large  giants,  hydraulic 
elevators,  dredges,  etc.  Years  of  hard  work  would  be  con- 
sumed in  a  thorough  examination  of  them  all. 

Omitting  mention  of  numerous  minerals,  which  may 
become  of  value  in  the  future  as  population,  transportation 
and  working  facilities  increase,  a  brief  statement  of  de- 
posits available  at  the  present  day  will  be  attempted. 

DIAMONDS,  garnets,  sapphires,  opals,  agates  and 
many  rare  minerals  exist  in  various  localities  in  this  state. 
I  found  opals  on  the  surface  near  Hay  creek  in  Eastern  Ore- 
gon, and  have  seen  numerous  specimens  of  the  above  men- 
tioned minerals.  None  were  of  grade  or  quantity  to  be  of 
commercial  value.  Further  search  may  get  better  reward. 

JOSEPHENITE,  a  mineral  discovered  in  Josephine 
county,  is  an  alloy  of  nickel  and  iron.  The  specimens  found 


126  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

appear  as  smooth  pebbles,  black  in  color.    Polished,  it  ap- 
pears like  metallic  iron  or  nickel. 

ANTIMONY  occurs  associated  with  the  base  gold 
ores  found  in  localities  in  Eastern  Oregon,  and  in  Southern 
Oregon. 

ARSENIC  appears  locally  in  combination  with  vari- 
ous ores,  not  yet  in  commercial  quantities. 

ASBESTOS  is  reported  from  numerous  localities  in 
the  state.  Some  deposits  promise  to  become  valuable  and 
are  being  developed.  Best  specimens  so  far  show  about  a 
second  grade  in  quality. 

BORAX  exists  in  extensive  areas  (marshes)  in  Harney 
county.  At  present  a  limited  product  from  this  locality  is 
hauled  150  miles  by  mule  teams  to  rail  at  Winnemucca, 
Nevada — about  400  tons  yearly. 

CEMENT  material  is  found  and  is  being  exploited  and 
tested  in  several  counties.     Claim  is  made  that  some  of 
these  products,  by  fair    tests,    surpass  Portland    cement. 
Success  in  this  line  of  manufacture  seems  certain. 

CLAYS  of  excellent  qualities  and  in  ample  quantities 
exist  in  many  localities.  Kaolin  of  fine  grade  and  abun- 
dant is  obtained  at  many  points,  also  fire  clays;  and  bricks, 
tiles  and  pottery  are  being  manufactured  at  different 
points  by  some  seventy  different  firms  and  individuals. 

COAL  has  been  mined  in  Oregon  since  1855.  The 
Coos  Bay  fields  cover  150  square  miles  in  Coos  county  and 
additional  discoveries  in  that  locality  are  recently  reported. 
For  a  long  period  the  average  yearly  production  was -50,000 
tons.  The  output  has  lately  been  increased.  The  markets 
are  San  Francisco  and  Portland.  Several  mines  are  being 
worked  in  this  field.  Extensive  coal  fields  exist  at 
Yaquina,  Lincoln  county,  partly  developed.  The  mineral 
is  found  in  Tillamook,  Curry,  Columbia,  Clackamas,  Ma- 
rion, Lane,  Yamhill,  Douglas,  Jackson,  Morrow,  Wasco, 
Grant  and  Baker  counties.  The  principal  deposit  in  East- 
ern Oregon,  so  far  appearing  is  about  twenty  miles  from 
(above)  the  town  of  Heppner.  Traces  of  coal  are  found  in 
many  localities. 


MINERAL  RESOURCES  AND  MINING  IN  OREGON.  127 

COBALT,  apparently  in  commercial  quantities,  asso- 
ciated with  gold,  copper  and  nickel  occurs  in  the  Standard 
Con.  mine,  Grant  county. 

COPPER,  associated  with  gold  and  silver,  appears  in 
many  parts  of  the  state.  The  Southern  Oregon  sections 
present  the  best  showings  in  this  metal  and  are  being  con- 
siderably exploited.  I  repeat  former  predictions  in 
saying  that  the  locality  will  soon  be  generous  in  copper 
products.  No  mines  of  this  metal  are  yet  supplied  with 
reduction  works.  A  smelter  recently  erected  in  Josephine 
county  will  be  blown  in  about  September  1st  next. 

GYPSUM  is  being  profitably  developed  near  Hunting- 
ton,  Baker  county.  Plaster  of  paris  is  being  manufactured 
from  this  deposit  which  consists  of  two  beds,  the  lower  one 
twenty  feet  thick,  the  upper  one  forty  feet  thick.  This  min- 
eral is  found  also  in  Douglas,  Jackson  and  Klamath  coun- 
ties. There  are  enormous  beds  of  chalk  in  Klamath. 

IRON  ores  occur  in  Clackamas,  Columbia,  Tillamook, 
Lane  and  Jackson  counties.  The  only  deposit  mined  in 
quantity  was  at  Oswego,  Clackamas  county,  but  this  mine 
has  been  closed  for  several  years.  The  products  of  several 
deposits  are  utilized  for  paints.  Columbia  and  Jackson 
counties  have  extensive  deposits  of  iron  of  commercial 
grade. 

LEAD  is  not  mined  here,  save  perhaps  as  a  by-prod- 
uct. It  is  present  in  many  of  the  base  ore  properties  of 
the  state. 

LIME  is  manufactured  near  Huntington.  Other  kilns 
are  in  Wallowa,  Jackson  and  Josephine  counties.  The 
product  is  sold  in  the  local  markets. 

MERCURY  is  being  produced  at  Blackbutte  mine, 
Lane  county.  A  great  deal  of  development  has  been  made 
here.  The  property  is  equipped  with  a  "California"  fur- 
nace. The  value  of  the  product  is  not  available.  There 
are  numerous  prospects  of  cinnabar  in  various  localities, 
some  of  which  are  being  exploited. 

MOLYBDENITE  is  found  in  a  few  places  in  Eastern 
Oregon  and  in  Jackson  county.  "Pockets"  of  grains  of 


128  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

nearly  pure  metal  are  reported  from  a  vein  carrying  other 
minerals  in  Union  county. 

NICKEL,  associated  with  other  minerals,  occurs  111 
ooth  Eastern  and  Southern  Oregon.  The  principal  deposit 
lies  in  Douglas  county,  but  has  not  been  profitably  worked. 

PLATINUM,  with  gold  in  placers,  is  mined  in  Baker, 
Union,  Wheeler,  Coos,  Curry,  Jackson  and  Josephine  coun- 
ties, and  in  many  of  the  beach  claims  along  the  sea  coast — 
in  the  beach  sand.  It  is  saved  only  as  a  by-product.  This 
metal  became  so  abundant  in  localities  in  Southern  Ore- 
gon as  to  interfere  with  saving  gold  in  the  placers,  and  the 
miners  were  much  annoyed — until  the  market  price  be- 
came known  to  them. 

NITRE,  in  apparently  considerable  quantities,  is  re- 
ported to  exist  in  Lane  county  and  some  claims  have  been 
laid  on  the  deposit. 

SILVER  is  not  mined  specially,  but  associated  with 
gold  and  copper;  it  is  a  by-product  in  Oregon. 

STONE  in  endless  variety  and  great  quantities  awaits 
roads  and  a  market.  Vast  beds  of  sandstones  of  prac- 
tically every  kind  and  color  are  widely  distributed.  Enor- 
mous deposits  (mountains)  of  marble,  of  best  qualities  and 
great  variety,  await  the  coming  of  good  roads.  Building 
stones,  from  peculiar  tuffs,  easily  shaped  and  dressed,  to 
slates,  basalts  and  granites,  are  more  abundant.  Granite 
of  good  quality  is  plentiful.  A  specially  excellent  grade 
of  this  stone  is  found  in  a  mountain  of  the  material  in  Lin- 
coln county,  also  in  Marion  and  Jackson  counties. 

SILICIA,  in  the  form  of  sands,  of  quality  adapted  to 
the  manufacture  of  glass,  is  plentiful  at  many  points. 
(Copyright,  1904,  by  Frank  V.  Drake.) 


The  Mineral  Resources  of  South  Carolina. 

BY  EARL  SLOAN,  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 

General  Geological  Conditions. 

An  inspection  of  the  physiography  of  South  Carolina 
reveals  two  series  of  formations,  widely  differing  in  their 
topographical,  structural  and  floral  features,  and  separated 
by  a  meandering  line,  designated  the  "fall  line,"  which 
crosses  the  greater  streams  at  the  head  of  navigation.  This 
Hue,  beginning  at  North  Augusta,  proceeds  by  Columbia 
and  thence  by  Camden  to  the  North  Carolina  state  line, 
northeast  to  Cheraw.  The  area  north  of  this  line,  desig- 
nated the  Crystalline  Region,  comprises  the  older  crystal- 
line rocks  and  is  characterized  along  its  upper  limits  by  a 
somewhat  serrated  mountainous  profile  graduating  south- 
erly into  intricately  ribbed  and  undulating  ridges  with 
deeply  sculptured  valleys  and  rapidly  flowing  streams. 
South  of  the  fall  line  we  find  the  younger  sedimentary  beds, 
which  overlap  the  crystalline  rocks  and  extend  thence  ta 
the  sea,  constituting  a  vast  peneplain,  known  as  the  Coastal 
Plain,  which  along  its  upper  limit  characteristically  affords 
extensive  plateaus  incised  with  deep  valleys  in  almost 
abrupt  juxtaposition,  the  included  rivers  having  slow  veloc- 
ities and  navigable  channels. 

Proceeding  from  the  northwest  part  of  the  state  along 
a  line  normal  to  the  coast  we  observe  distinctive  zones  of 
elevation  extending  approximately  parallel  with  the  coast. 
First  the  Montaine  Region,  with  its  serrated  topography 
culminating  in  peaks  as  high  as  3,500  feet  above  the  sea 
level,  which  rapidly  and  irregularly  declines  within  thirty 
miles  to  the  Piedmontaine  Region  where  the  ridges  afford 
elevations  from  700  to  900  feet,  and  the  beds  of  the  larger 
streams  are  from  500  to  700  feet  above  the  sea  level.  This 
"Piedmont  Region''  gently  graduates  through  the  middle 
country  to  the  fall  line,  where  the  crystalline  rocks  pass 
under  the  Coastal  plain  formations  at  elevations  above  sea 
level,  varying  from  119  feet  in  the  deeper  valleys  to  680 


130  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

feet  on  the  plateau  between  the  Savannah  and  the  Con- 
garee  rivers,  and  597  feet  between  the  Wateree  and  the 
Great  Pee  Dee  rivers.  Borings  south  of  the  fall  line  show 
the  inclination  of  the  surface  of  the  crystalline  rocks 
greatly  increased,  attaining  in  the  Savannah  area  fifty-four 
feet  to  the  mile  and  in  the  Pee  Dee  area  fifty  feet  to  the 
mile,  but  apparently  less  along  the  line  between  the  two. 
The  overlapping  Coastal  Plain  formations,  as  exposed 
.along  the  upper  limits  of  their  plateaus,  as  above  indicated, 
-attain  a  maximum  elevation  of  680  feet  from  which, 
through  the  intervening  sand  hill  region,  they  decline 
within  twenty  miles  to  an  elevation  of  400  feet,  and  thence 
gently  graduate  through  eight}7  miles  of  low  country,  to  the 
sea  level  at  the  coast. 

An  examination  of  the  structural  and  general  geolog- 
ical features  shows  the  crystalline  region  to  be  constituted 
of  rock  formations  more  or  less  hard  and  crystalline,  often 
pitched  at  high  angles,  folded,  faulted  and  otherwise  dis- 
located and  deficient  in  fossil  remains.  Proceeding  from 
the  mountains  to  the  fall  line,  or  along  the  older  to  the 
younger  rocks,  we  successively  observe  gneisses,  schists, 
slates,  limestones,  dolomites,  quartzites,  granulytes, 
gneisses,  slates  (intruded  basalts),  granite  and  shales. 
These  rocks  afford  valuable  structural  and  monumental 
stones,  and  include  veins  of  gold,  tin,  lead,  copper,  iron, 
manganese,  graphite,  corundum,  mica,  barite,  limestone, 
talc,  asbestos,  feldspar,  kaolin,  monazite  and  the  precious 
stones' and  other  minerals. 

Passing  next  to  the  Coastal  Plain,  we  see  some  loosely 
aggregated  materials  without  distinct  stratification,  and 
some  stratified  materials  with  a  gentle  dip,  the  latter  more 
or  less  rich  in  fossil  remains,  the  former  rarely  affording 
biotic  evidences.  We  thus  observe  beds  of  subangular  and 
rounded  quartz,  pebbles,  gravels,  arkose,  sands,  kaolin 
and  other  clays,  sandstones,  shales,  buhrstone,  marls, 
shales,  phosphate  rock  and  coastal  beds  of  loose  shells  and 
^and;  from  some  of  wrhich  are  derived  structural  sandstone, 
kaolin,  "glass  sand,"  potter's  clay,  brick  clay,  fuller's  earth, 
marls  and  phosphates. 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  1311 

The  subdivision  of  these  two  series  in  South  Carolina 
into  their  component  systems,  groups  and  stages  is  much 
more  feasible  in  the  case  of  the  younger  fossiliferous  strata 
of  the  Coastal  Plain,  than  in  the  case  of  the  crystalline 
region,  where  in  the  entire  absence  of  biotic  evidence  our 
discriminations  must  largely  depend  upon  correlation,  or 
inferences  based  on  the  order  and  manner  of  superposition 
of  their  lithological  equivalents  in  strata  elsewhere  more 
favorably  situated  for  differentiation. 

Metals— Gold. 

South  Carolina  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  discov- 
ery and  development  of  gold  deposits.  She  for  many  years 
past  has  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  producing  more  gold 
than  any  state  east  of  the  Mississippi  river,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  the  extensive  discoveries  of  gold  in  Cali- 
fornia caused  many  miners  to  abandon  properties  here  for 
the  more  alluring  western  fields.  Then  again  under  the 
old  methods  of  recovery  only  the  free  milling  or  easily 
roasted  ore  wras  available,  and  consequently  good  proper- 
ties were  abandoned  when  the  depth  of  the  sulphides 
was  attained. 

Modern  chlorination  and  cyanide  processes  are  re- 
claiming some  of  these  properties,  with  excellent  returns,, 
and  there  are  other  properties  with  good  -reserve  values 
awaiting  similar  treatment. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  prolific  producers  to-day 
were  well  known  but  indifferently  regarded  during  the  "fif- 
ties/' The  sulphurets  staggered  development. 

There  are  three  designated  gold  belts  in  South  Caro- 
lina, although  the  continuity  of  the  geological  connection 
is  much  broken  and  the  geognostic  features  varied  in  each. 
One  beginning  in  the  upper  portion  of  Spartanburg  ex- 
tends through  Greenville,  Pickens  and  Oconee  counties. 

Formerly  considerable  placer  running,  and  limited 
vein  running  was  conducted  along  this  belt.  The  opera- 
tions are  now  confined  to  intermittent  placer  work,  prin- 
cipally at  the  McBee  mine  (old  Carson  mine),  nine  miles 
north  of  Chick  Springs. 


132  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

This  property  would  probably  respond  well  under  sys- 
tematic and  organized  treatment,  but  systematic  exploita- 
tion should  be  undertaken  to  more  fully  demonstrate  its 
susceptibilities. 

The  parent  vein  consists  of  a  zone  of  mica  schist,  im- 
pregnated with  numerous  auriferous  stringers  of  quartz, 
which  gradually  breaks  down  to  form  the  placer  deposits. 

The  following  additional  localities  in  this  belt  have 
afforded  gold: 

Greenville  county,  Wildcat  creek,  Enoree  river,  at  a 
point  ten  miles  east  of  Greenville;  Oconee  county;  Jesse 
Lay  mine;  Cochran  mine;  Sloan  mine. 

The  second  belt  beginning  in  upper  York  extends 
southwesterly  through  Cherokee,  Union,  Lower  Greenville, 
upper  Laurens  and  Abbeville  counties. 

These  veins  consist  principally  of  lenticular  masses  of 
auriferous  quartz  and  pyrites  interstratified  with  the  tal- 
cose  or  micaceous  slates  which  are  pitched  at  high  angles. 
Some  of  these  ore  bodies  are  of  considerable  extent  in 
length,  depth  and  width.  The  Fergerson  mine,  situated  in 
York  county  at  the  head  of  King's  creek,  about  &.even  miles 
southeast  of  Grover  (on  the  Southern  Railway)  is  of  con- 
siderable promise.  It  has  recently  been  equipped  with  a 
twenty-ton  cyanide  plant. 

The  vein  is  of  pyritiferous  quartz  enclosed  in  heavily 
bedded  talcose  shales  (dipping  southeast  about  seventy  de- 
grees with  the  horizontal  and  striking  N.  E.).  At  a  depth 
of  100  feet  the  vein  which  is  seven  feet  wide  averages  from 
$12  to  $15  in  values.  It  concentrates  about  fifteen  to  one. 
The  outcrop  has  been  traced  for  a  considerable  distance, 
extending  to  adjoining  properties.  A  series  of  mines  in 
the  King's  creek  district  have  been  worked  during  quite 
recent  years  and  while  assays  and  mill  tests  indicated  ex- 
cellent values  inexperience  in  attempted  chlorination  re- 
sulted disastrously,  which  with  prohibitory  transportation 
expenses  to  other  reduction  plans  combined  to  cause  tem- 
porary suspension.  The  prominent  mines  thus  worked 
were  the  Allison,  Wolfe  Cr.,  Hardin,  McGill,  Bratton, 
Brown,  Magnolia  and  Flint  Hill.  There  are  numerous 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  133 

other  mines  and  prospects  along  this  belt,  terminating  with 
the  Old  Dorn  mine,  which  have  been  idle  for  various  pe- 
riods and  reasons — but  many  of  which  will  doubtless  re- 
spond to  modern  treatment. 

The  West  Springs  group:  This  group  comprising  the 
Mott  Thompson  and  West  mines  is  situated  in  the  upper 
portion  of  Union  county  about  seven  miles  south  of  Glenn 
Springs  railroad  station.  The  veins  comprise  large  ledges 
of  quartz  charged  with  auriferous  pyrites.  They  have  been 
intermittently  worked  for  many  years  with  varying  success. 

Parsons  mountain  in  Abbeville  county  has  been  the 
scene  of  desultory  gold  mining  for  several  years.  It  is 
claimed  that  some  good  prospects  await  development  in 
this  neighborhood. 

The  Bradly  prospect  on  the  P.  R.  &  W.  C.  R.  R.  has 
afforded  fine  indications  worthy  of  fuller  exploitation.  The 
Dorn  mine  at  McCormick  has  been  one  of  the  most  exten- 
sive gold  producers  in  the  South. 

The  third  belt  originates  in  Chesterfield  county  and 
extends  southwesterly  through  Lancaster,  upper  Kershaw, 
Fairfield  and  Newberry  counties,  its  southerly  portion  be- 
ing in  many  places  obscured  by  the  overlapping  cretaceous 
sands — whereas  there  are  some  few  of  the  lenticular  type 
of  quartzose  veins  in  this  zone,  the  characteristic  deposits 
are  extensive  masses  of  slates  impregnated  with  auriferous 
pyrites  and  quartz  stockwerke.  The  workable  parts  of 
these  impregnations  are  in  places  200  feet  wide,  and  have 
been  worked  to  a  depth  of  about  3'00  feet. 

The  ores  rarely  exceed  the  average  value  of  f  5  per  ton 
on  the  basis  of  the  mill  run,  and  are  usually  represented  at 
$4.50.  They  concentrate  about  ten  to  one. 

The  Brewer  mine,  situated  near  Jefferson  station  in 
the  western  portion  of  Chesterfield  county,  has  been  exten- 
sively worked  in  the  past,  but  closed  during  a  term  of  years 
through  conflicting  interests  and  litigation.  This  mine  has 
resumed  operations  during  the  past  year  and  is  now 
equipped  with  a  large  cyanide  plant.  This  deposit  is  an 
enormous  ore  body  and  will  add  materially  to  the  state's 
output. 


134  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

The  Haile  mine  is  situated  in  Lancaster  county,  about 
three  miles  east  of  Kershaw  station.  It  has  long  enjoyed 
a  prosperous  career  and  the  distinction  of  producing  alone 
more  gold  than  any  entire  state  east  of  the  Mississippi 
river.  The  Thies  chlorination  process  was  brought  to  its 
present  perfection  at  this  plant,  where  it  has  long  been 
operated  under  its  able  inventor.  Industrially,  scien- 
tifically, and  by  reason  of  its  vast  extent  this  is  the  most 
interesting  gold  mine  in  the  East.  Its  ore  output  has  often 
exceeded  35,000  tons  annually.  There  are  lesser  mines  in 
this  belt  which  have  been  worked  wTith  variable  success 
and  some  of  which  promise  under  improved  methods  to 
again  respond  generously. 

Tin. 

Tin  ore  was  observed  by  the  writer  sparsely  distrib- 
uted in  the  King's  mountain  district  during  the  year  1892 
and  specimens  were  exhibited  at  the  Charleston  Exposi- 
tion. During  the  year  1903  a  prominent  deposit  of  tin 
ore,  or  cassiterite,  was  discovered  by  Capt.  S.  S.  Ross,  a 
gentleman  of  considerable  mining  experience  and  skill,  on 
his  place  in  Cherokee  county,  one  and  a  quarter  miles 
northeast  of  the  Gaffney  railway  station  (Southern  Rail- 
way). During  the  early  part  of  the  year  1904  Captain  Ross 
began  the  exploitation  of  this  property  for  w^hich  purpose 
there  was  installed  under  skilled  supervision  the  necessary 
concentrating  troughs  and  three  Joplin  jigs.  With  this 
equipment  there  has  been  tested  the  surface  or  placer  ma- 
terial over  a  limited  area,  and  the  ore  extracted  from  an 
incline  extending  nearly  100  feet  along  the  dip  of  the  ore 
body  (thirty  degrees  increasing  with  depth).  A  shaft  now. 
being  sunk  through  the  hanging  wall  formation  to  inter- 
cept the  ore  body  at  a  considerable  depth  is  down  seventy- 
seven  feet  at  which  level  a  crosscut  to  the  vein  is  being 
driven. 

It  will  be  observed  that  considerable  dead  wrork  has 
been  instituted.  With  a  small  force  these  prospecting  oper- 
ations have  since  January  afforded  about  80,000  pounds  of 
cassiterite  analyzing  70.45  per  cent  of  metallic  tin  of  a 
very  fine  grade,  and  which  has  been  marketed  in  England 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  135 

at  the  best  market  prices,  with  an  eager  demand  for  more 
of  such  high  grade  ore.  Character  of  the  deposit:  The  area 
of  the  surface  or  placer  deposit,  resting  on  the  upturned 
edges  of  shales  and  schists,  has  not  been  delimited  by  sys- 
tematically located  test  pits,  in  the  absence  of  which  real 
calculations  are  merely  conjectural  and  quantities  mere 
surmises;  however,  surface  pannrngs  indicate  the  proba- 
bility of  an  extensive  placer  area.  The  surface  matter  may 
be  regarded  as  of  three  layers:  First,  resting  on  the  shales 
occurs  a  layer  of  about  nine  inches  of  loose  quartz  frag- 
ments, and  decomposed  feldspathic  matter  carrying  about 
three  per  cent,  of  cassiterite.  Overlying  this  is  about  three 
feet  of  red  clay  carrying  about  one-half  of  one  per  cent, 
of  cassiterite.  Superimposed  on  this  is  similar  clay  of  vari- 
able thickness,  ordinarily  from  one  to  three  feet,  in  which 
a  trace  of  tin  occurs. 

The  lower  three  and  three-quarters  feet  afford  in  val- 
ues about  f 3  to  the  cubic  yard. 

All  of  this  material  is  delivered  on  a  screen  which  sep- 
arates the  coarse  lumps  of  quartz,  etc.,  the  fine  material 
passing  thence  to  the  sluice  boxes  where  the  current  of 
water  concentrates  the  particles  of  cassiterite  by  sweeping 
away  the  greater  portion  of  the  lighter  material.  This 
partly  concentrated  cassiterite  is  removed  to  the  Joplin 
jigs  for  final  concentration  in  which  condition  it  represents 
about  seventy-one  per  cent,  of  metallic  tin. 

The  Parent  Vein. — We  observe  here  no  ledge  or  dyke 
of  gigantic  granite,  pegmatite  or  greisen,  with  sharply  de- 
fined walls,  enclosing  the  tin  ore.  The  cassiterite  occurs 
where  exposed  along  the  slope  in  particles,  sometimes  crys- 
talline, varying  in  size  from  the  minute  to  ten-pound 
lumps.  It  occurs  in  a  feldsparthic  matrix,  graduating  to 
micaceous,  and  the  individual  particles  are  in  some  in- 
stances covered  with  talcose  matter,  with  an  obscure 
fibrous  grain,  twisting  conformably  to  the  shape  of  the 
enclosed  lump  of  cassiterite.  This  impregnated  feldspathic 
/one  (striking  north  forty-eight  east  and  dipping  south 
forty-two  east,  about  thirty  degrees  with  the  horizontal), 
Caries  in  thickness  from  two  to  nine  feet.  Where  nine  feet 


136  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

thick  we  observe  about  two  feet  of  matter  which  affords 
thirty  to  forty  per  cent.,  by  weight,  of  concentrates  (cas- 
siterite),  the  remaining  seven  feet  affording  from  ten  to 
twenty  per  cent,  of  concentrates.  It  presents  an  exception- 
ally fine  prospect. 

The  material  representing  the  hanging  wall  is  greatly 
weathered,  but  is  apparently  a  hornblende  schist — suc- 
ceeded by  hornblende  shale  and  mica  schist.  The  foot  wall 
material  is  mica  schist.  A  knowledge  of  the  rock  associ- 
ated with  the  Ross  tin  deposit  might  prove  of  value  in 
tracing  the  extension  of  the  tin  bearing  formation.  Begin- 
ning 750  feet  northwest  of  the  outcrop  of  the  parent  tin 
vein  and  proceeding  normal  to  the  strike,  we  first  observe 
very  hard  syenitic  shale,  on  edge,  resting  against  a  prom- 
inent stratum  of  highly  indurated  quartzitic  matter  por- 
phyritic  enclosures  of  feldspar;  the  strike  is  north  forty- 
eight  east,  and  the  dip  south  forty-two  east.  Approaching 
the  tin  vein  we  must  successively  pass  feldspathic  shales, 
hard  hornblende  shales,  arenaceous  mica  schists,  black 
quartz  enclosing  pink  feldspar,  pegmatite,  mica  schists 
with  chloritic  seams,  and  then  the  mica  schist  constituting 
the  foot  wall  of  the  vein.  Proceeding  beyond  the  vein  to 
the  southeast  we  observe  decomposed  hornblende  schist 
and  hard  hornblende  shale  beyond  which  the  formation  is 
obscured  until  we  attain  the  distance  of  328  feet,  where 
there  are  evidences  of  a  diorite  dike.  The  writer  traced 
the  formation  to  the  northeast,  crossing  the  Broad  river  at 
the  McCraw  place,  about  one  mile  below  the  old  Ross 
ferry.  Southwesterly  it  was  traced  through  the  northern 
part  of  the  town  of  Gaffney  and  thence  towards  Thickety 
creek,  beyond  which  the  zone  probably  extends  toward 
Cedar  Springs,  in  Spartanburg  county.  The  South  Caro- 
lina geological  survey  is  now  engaged  in  tracing  this  for- 
mation to  the  limits  of  its  exposure  in  this  state  with  a 
view  to  assisting  in  the  discovery  of  additional  deposits. 
A  brief  review  of  the  associate  geognostic  features  of  this 
tin  deposit  may  prove  of  interest.  The  average  strike  of 
the  strata  of  the  King's  mountain  region  is  northeast.  Be- 
ginning near  Broad  river  at  the  line, in  prolongation  of 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  137 

King's  mountain  and  proceeding  northwesterly,  or  across 
the  upturned  edges  of  the  strata,  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Thickety  mountain  we  observe,  in  this  section  of  twelve 
miles,  the  following  successive  formations  of  industrial 
value: 

One — The  talcose  slates  enclosing  extensive  gold  de- 
posits. 

Two — The  itacolumitic  rocks  interstratified  with  the 
beds  of  specular  iron. 

Three — The  talcose  slates  enclosing  the  beds  of  su- 
perior magnetic  iron. 

Four — The  limestone  strata. 

Five — Beds  of  best  defined  itacolumite. 

These  five  constitute  the  itacolumite  series,  mica,  horn- 
blende and  feldspathic  schists  and  shales  constitute  the  fol- 
lowing members: 

Six — The  hornblende  and  feldspathic  shales  contain- 
ing the  tin. 

Seven — Micaceous  schists  enclosing  brown  hematite. 

Eight — Micaceous  schists  and  feldspathic  shales  en- 
closing monazite. 

Nine — Gneissoid  rock  along  the  axis  of  the  anticline 
(beyond  which  the  strata  dip  to  the  northwest.) 

Ten — Micaceous  schists  and  feldspathic  shales  afford- 
ing monazite. 

Eleven — Mica  schists  enclosing  brown  hematite  ores  in 
resumption  of  "seven." 

Twelve — Undetermined.  But  if  the  tin  ore  was  de- 
posited contemporaneously  with  the  enclosing  feldspathic 
shales  represented  in  six,  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  a  repe- 
tition along  the  upper  side  of  the  anticline  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  the  Thickety  mountain. 

Iron. 

Numerous  deposits  of  iron  are  in  this  state,  occurring 
in  formations  ranging  from  the  tertiary  to  the  Silurian,  but 
up  to  the  present  time  none  have  been  noted  of  modern  in- 
dustrial importance  excepting  in  the  King's  Mountain  dis- 
trict. One  zone,  beginning  north  of  King's  mountain,  ex- 
tends southwesterly  through  Cherokee  and  parts  of  Spart- 


138  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

anburg  and  Union  counties,  and  comprises  magnetic  and 
specular  ores  bedded  in  talcose  schists  or  shales  and  in  the 
itacolumitic  rocks.  These  beds  were  worked  to  great  ad- 
vantage when  charcoal  was  available,  prior  to  1865.  The 
magnetic  ore,  or  catawberite,  afforded  a  peculiarly  superior 
iron,  close  grained  and  soft,  yet  tough,  which  was  exten- 
sively employed  in  the  manufacture  of  the  Confederate  ord- 
nance. Furnaces  and  rolling  mills  were  operated  for  this 
purpose  adjacent  to  the  Cherokee  ford  on  the  Broad  river. 
Specular  ore  was  also  employed  in  mixtures  and  alone  for 
the  production  of  superior  pig  metal  for  castings.  The  red 
ore  or  itawberite  is  a  low  grade  arenaceous  magnetite, 
which  also  affords  good  pig  metal  for  castings. 

The  catawberite,  or  magnetic  ore  in  talcose  schist,  ap- 
pears intermittently  for  nine  miles,  crossing  the  Broad  river 
near  Cherokee  ford,  five  miles  east  of  Gaffney,  and  a  half 
mile  north  of  a  spur  track  of  the  Southern  Railway.  It  con- 
sists of  lenticular  bodies  of  magnetite  crowded  in  talcose 
schist,  pitched  at  high  angles,  attaining  in  places  the  width 
of  forty  feet,  and  extending  to  depths  as  yet  undetermined. 
The  sorted  ore  in  large  lots  exceeds  fifty  per  cent,  of  metal- 
lic iron,  and  is  free  from  objectionable  association  except- 
ing in  the  matter  of  the  magnesian  gangue  which  adds 
somewhat  to  the  difficulties  of  fluxing.  The  exposures  of 
this  ore  adjacent  to  the  Broad  river  are  the  most  prominent 
and  most  favorably  situated  for  development. 

The  specular  ore  occurs  along  a  zone  parallel  to,  and 
east  of,  the  catawberite  belt — the  two  being  about  one  mile 
apart.  These  deposits  occur  interstratified  with  the  ita- 
columitic shales  and  are  much  more  continuous  than  the 
catawberite,  which  alternately  pinches  and  expands.  The 
specular  ore  deposits  below  the  valley  line  become  pyritif- 
erous.  This  ore  has  been  freely  used  with  excellent  results 
as  already  noted.  The  time  will  not  be  distant  when  the 
superiority  of  these  ores  for  the  manufacture  of  steel  and 
the  finer  grades  of  iron  will  render  their  use  imperative,  for 
the  supplies  of  the  high  grade  ores  more  favorably  situated 
in  this  country  are  not  unlimited. 

The  ItaAvberite  occurs  along  the1  southwesterly  exten- 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  139 

sion  of  the  line  of  the  specular  ores;  the  deposits  are  not 
very  extensive  and  are  chiefly  of  interest  in  their  advant- 
ageous susceptibility  of  being  mixed  with  the  superior  ores 
by  reason  of  their  easy  fluxing  properties. 

Two  miles  north  of  Gaffney  we  observe  beds  of  brown 
hematite  ores  occurring  in  mica  schists  as  a  result  of  the 
alteration  of  pyrites.  The  available  ore  which  was  there- 
fore quite  shallow  was  freely  drawn  upon  by  the  old  Cow- 
pens  and  Pacolet  furnaces.  The  mica  schists  strike  north- 
east and  'dip  southeast.  These  beds  find  their  counterpart 
about  eight  miles  north,  where  schists  with  similar  strike 
dip  to  the  northwest  indicating  a  former  anticline  whose 
crest  has  b'een  degraded,  thereby  exposing  the  upturned 
edges  of  the  strata,  consisting  of  micaceous  hornblende  and 
feldspathic  schists  and  shales,  monazite  occurring  in  the 
latter  intermediate  to  the  two  zones  carrying  the  brown 
hematite  ores. 

It  may  be  competent  to  mention  that  limestone,  suit- 
able for  fluxing,  and  sandstone,  suitable  for  furnace  linings, 
are  found  in  close  proximity  to  the  iron  ores,  and  that  a  vast 
undeveloped  water  power  occurs  on  th.e  Broad  river  one 
mile  south  of  the  iron  zone. 

Copper. 

A  great  many  of  the  veins  of  the  crystalline  region  are 
impregnated  with  iron  pyrites  which  in  many  cases  is 
mixed  with  copper  pyrites  the  proportion  of  the  latter  of- 
ten increasing  with  the  depth  of  the  vein.  It  is  thus  ob- 
served in  many  of  the  upper  counties,  but  the  only  deposit 
which  has  been  systematically  exploited  for  copper  is  the 
Mary  Mine  which  is  situated  about  four  and  a  quarter  miles 
northeast  of  York. 

Professor  Lieber  inspected  the  Mary  Mine  during  its 
exploitation  in  1857  and  reported  that  the  work  comprised 
two  shafts  respectively  fifty-five  and  thirty-nine  feet,  one 
cross-cut  of  thirty-five  feet,  and  a  gallery  on  the  vein  for 
160  feet.  He  recites  that  the  vein  is  composed  of  quartz 
impregnated  with  copper  pyrites  varying  in  width  from 
three  to  five  feet.  He  pronounces  it  a  contact  vein  between 


140  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

a  porphyry  dike  and  the  mica  slate  the  porphyry  being  a 
contact  dike  of  the  granite.  He  recites  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  discover  finer  prospects  for  a  copper  mine. 

Nickel. 

In  Newberry  county  about  ten  miles  westerly  from 
Newberry,  C.  H.  appears  the  Culbreath  mine,  regarding 
which  information  has  been  received,  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  deducted :  The  vein  matter  consists  of  a  very  hard 
siliceous  slaty  rock,  impregnated  with  iron  pyrites,  gold 
and  nickle,  in  contact  with  an  intensive  igneous  rock,  the 
country  rock  being  slate  varying  to  feldsite.  It  is  claimed 
that  from  seven  to  twelve  feet  will  concentrate- 10  to  1;  the 
concentrates  assaying 

Copper 4  per  cent. 

Nickel 2  per  cent. 

Gold |7.50 

Considerable  work  in  the  line  of  exploitation  has  been 
done;  one  shaft  is  down  more  than  seventy  feet.  The  own- 
ers, Dr.  Mclntosh  and  Mr.  Culbreath,  whose  address  is  New- 
berry,  S.  C.,  have  displayed  great  confidence  and  enthu- 
siasm in  the  the  development  of  this  property. 

Monazite. 

Non-Metallic.— The  zone  in  South  Carolina  along 
which  monazite  is  as  yet  recognized  as  occurring  in  eco- 
nomic quantities  begins  in  Cherokee  county  at  the  North 
Carolina  line,  west  of  Buffalo  creek,  and  extends  north  of 
Gaffney,  north  of  Cowpens,  south  of  Spartanburg,  and 
thence  proceeds  south  of  Greenville  in  a  southwesterly 
direction.  It  also  occurs  to  an  extent  in  York  county  and 
sparsely  in  other  localities  not  remote  from  the  indicated 
zone. 

It  occurs  sparsely  impregnating  feldspathic  shales  in 
the  form  of  small  crystals  and  grains,  which  are  hard  and 
much  heavier  than  most  of  the  associated  matter.  In  places 
it  is  sufficiently  abundant  in  these  shales  to  admit  of  their 
being  mined  and  concentrated,  when  the  shales  have  been 
softened  by  weathering  influences.  Such  favorable  oc- 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  141 

currences,  however,  are  rarely  found.  Under  the  protracted 
processes  of  degradation  and  erosion  these  shales  are  dis- 
integrated by  nature,  the  softer  and  lighter  material  being 
removed  in  suspension  in  water,  and  the  harder  and  heav- 
ier material  acumulating  in  the  valleys  and  along  the  beds 
of  streams.  It  is  from  these  sand  beds  of  branches  that 
most  of  the  monazite  of  commerce  is  ^obtained.  A  deposit 
which  will  afford  a  pound  of  monazite  from  a  barrow  load 
of  sand  is  considered  a  "good  proposition."  The  sand  is  sep- 
arated from  the  monazite  in  a  modification  of  the  "long 
torn"  employed  in  the  placer  mining  of  gold.  Thus  con- 
centrated the  monazite  is  accompanied  in  varying  degrees 
with  garnet,  magnetic  iron  ilmenite,  and  grains  of  other 
heavy  minerals  occurring  in  the  associate  rocks.  The  mona- 
zite thus  concentrated  varies  from  sixty-five  to  ninety-five 
per  cent,  of  the  concentrated  material.  It  is  thus  sold  at 
the  magnetic  separators  on  the  basis  of  eight  cents  the 
pound  for  pure  monazite.  This  monazite  contains  from  5.25 
per  cent,  to  7.25  per  cent,  of  thoria. 

There  is  but  one  separating  plant  in  this  state;  there 
are  several  in  North  Carolina;  and  consequently  there  is 
less  convenience  and  accessibility  in  South  Carolina,  and 
therefore  less  development  of  this  industry. 

The  more  prominent  deposits  in  South  Carolina  -are 
along  branches  tributary  to  Cherokee  Creek,  aproaching  on 
the  north  within  three  miles  of  Gaffney.  Along  the  Chero- 
kee, the  Lemmons  (L.  C.),  Magnus  (J.  J.),  Swafford  (J.  M.), 
Jones  (J.  B.),  and  Sarratt  properties  occur,  and  have  been 
operated  for  several  years.  Along  Little  John's  Branch 
(a  tributary  of  Thickety  Creek)  in  Cherokee  county  we  ob- 
serve the  Husky  (J.),  Blanton  (J.  C.),  and  Petty  (Chas.) 
properties  which  have  been  worked;  there  are  probably 
others.  Near  Cowpens  station,  but  on  the  east  side  of 
Thickety  Creek  the  Oglesby  and  Potter  properties  afford 
good  prospects  as  also  do  the  Caldwell  and  Martin  places 
on  the  west  side  of  this  creek.  West  of  Cowpens  in  Spartan- 
burg  county  and  tributary  to  the  Pacolet  river,  the  Petty, 
Dewberry,  Martin,  Bryant,  Wilkins  and  Simons  properties 
are  regarded  as  good.  North  of  Converse  on  the  Pacolet 


142  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

liver  the  Black  and  Martin  properties  are  considered  good 
prospects. 

About  four  miles  west  of  Spartanburg  there  is  an  area 
considered  of  good  promise. 

Passing  to  Greens ville  county,  fair  prospects  have  been 
observed  near  Taylor  station,  and  four  miles  south  of 
Greenville  the  Wright  (A.  B.),  properties  are  said  to  be 
good  prospects. 

The  monazite  of  this  zone  carries  from  5.25  to  7.25  per 
cent,  of  thoria,  the  constituent  in  demand  for  the  manu- 
facture of  the  Wellsbach  and  similar  incandescent  mantles. 

Barytes — Baryta. 

About  500  feet  southeast  of  Kings.  Creek  station,  on  the 
C.  C.  C.  K.  R,  in  Cherokee  county  a  deposit  of  Barytes  of 
considerable  prominence  occurs.  There  are  three  major 
veins  and  several  lesser  stringers  interstratified  with  tal- 
cose  slates  and  arenaceous  shales,  the  widest  vein  showing 
about  ten  feet  in  thickness.  Strike  N.  20  E.,  Dip  57  E. — 
22.5  degrees  with  the  horizontal — outcrop  intermittent  for 
about  2,000  feet. 

Some  parts  of  the  ore  are  very  fine,  others  carry  some 
quartz  and  occasional  specks  of  pyrites  and  galena. 
Weathering  of  the  pyrites  causes  local  areas  of  stain. 

Kings  Creek,  coursing  through  the  property  immedi- 
.ately  adjacent  to  the  deposits,  affords  an  abundant  supply 
of  water,  which,  however,  is  not  clear. 

This  ore  should  be  ground  and  concentrated  on  the 
.spot. 

Very  limited  exploitation  has  been  done  on  this  prop- 
erty. 

There  are  some  slight  indications  of  baryta  said  to  have 
been  observed  east  of  Blacksburg. 

Kaolins,   Clays,  Fullers'  Earth. 

The  very  exceptional  extent  and  importance  of  the 
varied  forms  of  South  Carolina  clays,  which  are  capable  of 
greater  development  and  extension  than  any  other  mineral 
industry,  should  commend  them  to  special  consideration. 

Kaolins  and  other  high  grade  clays  occur,  associated 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  143: 

with  both  the  crystalline  and  coastal  plain  formations.  In 
the  former  they  appear  without  reference  to  any  particu- 
lar period,  being  a  product  of  decomposition,  in  situ,  of  the 
generally  distributed  feldspathic  rocks,  but  in  the  coastal 
plain  region  the  kaolins  representing  transported  sedi- 
ments, of  previously  decomposed  matter,  deposited  at  cer- 
tain definite  periods,  are  assignable  to  specific  horizons. 
Thus  the  best  of  sedimentary  kaolins  which  are  most  ex- 
tensively developed  in  South  Carolina  are  assigned  to  the 
Cretaceous  period  and  again  our  best  fullers  earths  ex- 
tensively prevail  in  the  tertiary. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  horizons  to  which 
the  different  varieties  of  clay  and  other  products  of  the 
coastal  plain  pertain  in  South  Carolina: 

Eecent. — Thin  beds  of  sand  and  clays  in  sections  sub- 
ject to  recent  inundation.  Economic  products:  Structural 
sands  and  some  brick  clays. 

Post  Pliocene. — Beds  of  sand,  loams,  clays  and  shells. 
Economic  products:  Brick  clays. 

Neocene. — Eolean  sands,  Lafayette  clays,  loams,  sandsr 
cement  gravel  and  cobbles.  Prominently  developed  across 
the  upper  part  of  the  coastal  plain.  Economic  products: 
Sand  supply  for  locomotives,  molding  sand:  cobblestones 
and  cement  gravel  for  road  construction  and  railway  bal- 
last. 

Pliocene,  Miocene  and  Oligocene  (?)  marls,  clays  and 
sands.  Economic  products:  Fuller's  earth,  brick  clays, 
sewer  pipe  and  tile  clay;  phosphate  rock;  marls  adapted  to 
the  manufacture  of  cement  and  lime;  marl  and  greensand 
for  agricultural  purposes. 

Eocene. — Dark  laminated  clays,  sands,  ferruginous 
sandstone,  Eocene  grit,  buhr-rock;  fine  grained  yellow  Si- 
enna and  purple  sands  and  loams;  shells,  greensand,  marl, 
siliceous  clay  enclosing  layer  buhr-rock,  coarse  fossiliferous 
sands,  sandy  loams,  lignitic  clay.  Occupy  aproximately 
the  median  two-fourths  of  the  coastal  plain;  irregularly 
parallel  to  the  fall  line.  Economic  products:  Fuller's 
earth;  potter's  clay;  structural  and  mill  stones;  lime  marl;, 
greensand  and  marl  for  agricultural  purposes. 


144  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

Cretaceous. — Buff-colored  high  grade  marl;  greensand 
marl;  clay  marl;  black  clay.  Economic  products:  Lime 
marls;  agricultural  marls;  clay  marls  suited  to  the  manu- 
facture of  vitrified  brick. 

Middendorf — white  sands  (25  ft.),  bed  of  dense  white 
and  drab  kaolin  with  waxy  luster  (f ossilif erous) ;  harsh 
sands;  vari-colored  cross  bedded  fine  grained  sands;  thin 
seams  of  colored  clay  interlaminated  with  sands;  gravel. 
Economic  products:  China  clays;  paper  stock  clays;  "glass 
sand." 

Hamburg — From  nil  to  eighteen  feet  of  fine  white  kao- 
lin, white  sands  in  micaceous  koalinitic  matrix;  vari-col- 
ored banded  sands;  purple  and  white  kaolin;  arkose;  sub- 
angular  boulders  and  fragments  of  quartz,  slate  and  gneiss 
in  arkose  matrix.  Economic  products:  China  clays,  paper 
stock  clays,  potter's  clay,  "glass  sand." 

The  Cretaceous  occupies  the  upper  fourth  of  the  coastal 
plain  of  the  Aiken,  Edisto  and  Santee  areas  and  both  the 
upper  and  lower  fourths  of  the  Pee  Dee  area. 

Crystalline — Shales,  schists,  granulytes  and  gneiss 
with  their  upper  portions  kaolinized.  Economic  products: 
Residual  clays;  meta-residual  clays;  inferior  cornish  stone 
and  feldspar;  superior  structure  stones,  etc. 

Residual  Kaolins. 

No  residual  deposits  of  kaolin  have  been  commercially 
developed  in  South  Carolina,  and  whereas  there  are  many 
indications  of  such  veins  scattered  throughout  the  granitic 
or  crystalline  region  the  occurrences  of  most  conspicuous 
promise  yet  noted  are  along  a  zone,  in  close  proximity  to 
the  trappean  rocks,  extending  from  Mount  Carmel  to 
King's  Mountain;  the  dynamic  influences  of  these  igneous 
rocks  probably  predisposed  the  feldspar,  etc.,  to  rapid  kao- 
linization  through  allotropic  modifications. 

Sedimentary  Kaolins. 

The  sedimentary  kaolin  beds  in  South  Carolina  range 
In  purity  from  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  clay  substance  to  the 
lowermost  grades.  Its  fluxing  impurities  comprise  potash, 
soda,  iron,  lime,  magnesia,  etc.,  more  or  less  combined  with 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  145 

silica  in  amounts  varying  from  mere  traces  to  the  limits 
of  fatal  defects.  These  impurities  occur  as  quartz,  feldspar, 
mica,  hornblende,  limonite,  pyrites,  etc.,  its  fusibility  varies 
accordingly.  In  tensile  strength  sedimentary  kaolins  vary 
from  three  pounds  to  exceeding  one  hundred  pounds  per 
square  inch;  in  combined  air  and  fire  shrinkage  from  one  to 
thirty  per  cent.  The  point  of  incipient  fusion  varies  from 
above  1815  degrees  C.,  3,300  degrees  F.,  down  to  1,204  de- 
grees O.,  2,200  degrees  P.  The  peculiar  form  of  its  iron  con- 
tent as  compared  with  that  of  the  residual  kaolin, 
limits  in  part  its  more  extensive  substitution 
for  the  latter.  Some  sedimentary  clays,  how- 
ever, fulfill  the  conditions  of  china  clays 
in  being  lean  and  in  burning  to  a  white  body  without  craz- 
ing or  displaying  other  physical  defects.  Plastic  sedimen- 
tary kaolins,  or  ball  clays,  are  mixed  with  lean  residual 
clays,  or  other  china  clays,  to  increase  their  plasticity.  The 
amounts  of  the  ball  clays  added  vary  from  one-third  to  two- 
thirds  of  the  amount  of  the  china  clay,  according  to  the  de- 
gree of  color  permissible;  the  greater  the  amount  of  the 
sedimentary  kaolin  increasing  the  color  of  the  biscuit  or 
glaze  ordinarily,  but  not  invariably.  In  South  Carolina 
there  are  extensive  beds  of  pure  white  sedimentary  kaolins 
exceeding  eighteen  feet  in  thickness  and  affording  ninety- 
eight  per  cent,  of  clay  substance,  which  requires  no  other 
preparation  than  drying.  (In  Florida  sedimentary  beds  of 
kaolin  are  worked  to  advantage,  which  carry  seventy-five 
per  cent,  of  foreign  matter,  which  is  eliminated  by  washing, 
and  these  beds  contribute  extensively  to  the  supply  of  plas- 
tic kaolin.)  The  sedimentary  kaolins  of  South  Carolina  oc- 
cur in  deposits,  the  extent  and  purity  of  which  challenge 
comparison  with  any  known  beds.  They  underlie  vast  areas 
of  the  Cretaceous  and  Eocene  terranes,  offering  themselves 
for  utilization  wherever  the  process  of  erosion  or  other 
degradation  has  sufficiently  removed  the  overlying  beds  of 
Eocene  and  Neocene  clays  and  sands.  Whereas  these  beds 
are  in  some  places  practically  continuous  for  several  miles, 
the  whole  is  sub-divided  into  isolated  areas  with  extensive 
intermediate  barrens. 


146  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

These  kaolins  are  extensively  distributed  in  the  Savan- 
nah River  area,  the  Santee  area  and  the  Edisto  area,  in 
the  Counties  of  Aiken,  Lexington,  Eichland  and  Kershaw. 
The  Savannah  River  Area  affords  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able exposures  of  sedimentary  kaolin  in  the  United  States, 
not  only  in  its  relations  to  quality  and  quantity,  but  in 
scientific  interest  attaching  thereto.  From  Hamburg  to 
Aiken  we  observe  a  zone  of  these  clays  extending  fourteen 
miles  in  length  by  five  miles  in  width,  with  numerous  bar- 
rens caused  by  pre-eocene  erosions  and  the  degradations  of 
recent  drainage. 

These  beds  of  kaolin  vary  from  five  to  twenty-five  feet 
in  thickness,  with  an  overburden  of  cross  bedded  sands, 
thin  laminae  of  clay  and  occasional  Lafayette  loams  and 
cobbles  ranging  in  thickness  from  nil  to  more  than  one  hun- 
dred feet.  The  thickness  of  the  kaolin  determines  the 
amount  of  overburden  that  can  be  economically  removed. 
This  overburden  is  degraded  by  laborers  with  pick,  shovel 
and  cart,  or  with  scrapes  or  steam  shovels,  until  a  sufficient 
terrace  of  clay  is  bared  for  extraction.  This  kaolin  is  moved 
in  the  lump  form  to  the  dry  sheds,  where,  after  exposure 
to  air  and  light  for  a  few  weeks,  it  is  packed  in  casks  of  one 
ton  capacity  and  shipped  to  the  consumer.  It  probably  rep- 
resents the  largest  body  of  clay  closely  approximating  kao- 
linite  that  is  found  in  the  United  States.  The  Aiken  Area 
also  affords  important  deposits  along  Beaver  Pond  and 
Hollow  Creeks. 

The  Edisto  Area  reveals  interesting  beds  of  these  clays 
on  North  Edisto  River,  between  Cook's  Bridge  and  Merritt's 
Bridge  and  along  Fox  Creek;  superior  deposits  along  the 
South  Edisto  River,  along  Chalk  Hill  Creek,  Juniper  Creek, 
Marbone  Creek  and  near  Sand  Darn  Bridge. 

The  Santee  Area  reveals  valuable  beds  along  Thorn's 
Creek,  Cedar  Creek,  Colonel's  Creek,  Shaw's  Creek,  Swift 
Creek,  Rafting  Creek  and  Pine  Tree  Creek,  and  in  some 
places  adjacent  to  the  Congaree  and  Wateree  Rivers. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  class,  which  requires  no 
other  preparation  than  simple  drying,  there  are  consider- 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  147 

able  beds  of  Cretaceous  clays  commingled  with  sands  which 
are  susceptible  of  concentration  by  the  usual  washing  pro- 
cess. There  is  a  modern  plant  for  such  purpose  in  opera- 
tion at  Seivern,  South  Carolina. 

The  class  of  clay  indicated,  Middendorf,  prevails  in 
large  beds  in  the  Aiken,  Santee  and  Pee  Dee  Areas.  In 
color  they  are  very  pale  greenish-yellow,  but  burn  to  a 
white  body  with  quite  variable  shrinkage.  Their  tensile 
strength  is  superior  to  that  of  the  whiter  clays.  Their  ex- 
treme fineness  of  particle  renders  them  much  more  fusible 
than  other  clays  similar  in  composition  but  coarser  in  tex- 
ture. 

Wood  Pulp  Kaolin. 

Many  of  the  sedimentary  kaolins  occurring  as  described  . 
in  the  preceding  paragraph  are  by  reasons  of  their  previ- 
ously noted  limitations  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  wood 
pulp  paper.     In  the  manufacture  of  the  varieties  of  wood 
pulp  paper  used  for  newspaper,  and  other    purposes,    the 
kaolin  known  as  paper  stock  clay  enters  to  an  extent,  vary- 
ing from  15  to  25  per  cent,  of  the  whole,  the  balance  being 
composed  of  ground  pulp,  cooked  pulp  and  resin,  in  such 
respective  proportions  as  53,  17  and  5,  all  of  which  are  in- 
corporated in  the  cutter  as  a  fluid  pulp,  the  clay  having  first 
been  slaked  to  a  "slip."    The  ground  pulp  is  of  a  short  fiber, 
and  affords  the  cheaper  body  which  is  strengthened  by  the 
addition  of  the  long  fibre  of  the  cooked  pulp,  the  whole 
thing  cemented  by  resin  which  also  contributes  to  the  gloss, 
and  sized  by  the  clay  which  fills  the  interstices.     Much  of 
the  clay  is  added,  however,  to  give  weight.     The  market 
value  of  the  clay  is  about  f  8  per  long  ton,  delivered  at  New 
York,  while  the  market  value  of  the  paper  ranges  from  f  50 
to  $60  per  ton.    The  early  deterioration  of  this  paper  is  at- 
tributed in  the  main  to  the  presence  of  the  resinous  matter, 
which  affords  a  nutrient  for  fungoid  growths,  the  albu- 
minoids of  the  ground  fibre  also  contributing  to  this  evil. 
Kaolins  of  high  densities  are  chiefly  in  demand  for  this  pur- 
pose, for  the  reason  that  they  afford  a  superior  surface  to 
the  paper,  and  for  the  further  reason  that  pulp  with  a 
fixed  volume  of  space  between  its  fibres  will  absorb  more 


148  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

weight  of  kaolin  of  high  specific  gravity  than  the  same 
volume  would  represent  in  kaolin  of  low  specific  gravity.  A 
clay  of  such  density  as  will  be  retained  in  the  fibre  to  the 
extent  of  65  per  cent,  of  the  amount  of  clay  present,  when 
squeezed  through  the  first  rolls,  is  considered  good  paper 
stock  clay,  although  some  clays  appreciably  exceed  this 
limit.  It  is  required  that  the  clay  shall  be  white,  for  both 
white  and  colored  papers,  for  the  reason  that  the  tints  of 
nature  in  kaolins  are  perishable  if  of  organic  origin,  and  ir- 
regular if  of  a  mineral  nature.  The  manufacturer  prefers 
to  add  a  fixed  amount  of  definite  pigment  to  the  white  clay 
to  insure  uniformity  and  constancy  of  such  color  as  may  be 
required.  The  substitution  of  this  clay  for  starch  in  sizing 
the  cheaper  cotton  fabrics  is  rapidly  obtaining,  the  advant- 
ages to  the  seller  being  obvious. 

South  Carolina  supplies  about  35,000  tons  of  kaolin 
each  year  to  the  Northern  market.  This  entire  output  is  de- 
rived from  Aiken  county. 

There  are,  however,  in  other  counties  excellent  unde- 
veloped beds  of  kaolin  as  set  forth  in  a  special  report.  The 
following  is  a  list  of  the  proprietors  of  plants,  all  well 
equipped  for  mining,  preparing  and  marketing  kaolin: 

McNamee  &  Co.,  Bath,  S.  C. 

T.  G.  Lamar  &  Co.,  Langley.  S.  C. 

Paragon  Kaolin  Works,  Lamar,  S.  C. 

Immaculate  Kaolin  Co.,  Lamar,  S.  C. 

Peerless  Clay  Co.,  Lamar,  S.  C. 

Sterling  Kaolin  Co.,  Lamar,  S.  C. 

McMillan  Kaolin  Works,  Graniteville,  S.  C. 

Fire  Clays. 

While  we  have  none  of  the  flint  clays  we  have  in  point 
of  composition  their  equivalents,  with  the  advantage  of 
good  elasticity,  notably  among  some  of  the  Cretaceous  de- 
posits; but  in  many  instances  the  extreme  fineness  df  the 
particles  tends  to  lower  their  fusibility  by  an  amount  ex- 
ceeding 111  degrees  C.,  or  200  degrees  F.,  as  compared 
with  clays  of  similar  analyses  but  coarser  in  texture.  The 
equivalents  of  the  plastic  fire  clays,  combining  the  refrac- 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  149 

toriness  of  flint  clays,  we  have  in  the  lower  Cretaceous  for- 
mations, ranging  in  composition  from  the  common  grades 
to  the  best  imported  German  product. 

We  have  in  South  Carolina  not  only  extensive  beds  of 
superior  fire  clays,  but  suitable  clays  for  the  sub-refractory 
wares  not  requiring  more  than  1,400  degrees  C.  tempera- 
ture, at  which  these  clays  are  self-bonding,  through  in- 
cipient vitrification;  they  serve  well  the  requirements  of 
all  ordinary  furnaces.  But,  for  the  minimum  limit  ordi- 
narily accepted  as  refractory,  1490  degrees  C.,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  mix  a  highly  refractory  clay  with  enough  of 
the  more  fusible  clay,  of  the  same  approximate  co-efficient 
of  shrinkage,  to  thoroughly  bond  together  the  infusible 
particles  of  clay  and  quartz,  or  grog,  etc.,  without  prejudice 
to  the  required  degree  of  porosity. 

The  sedimentary  fire  clays  of  South  Carolina  are  found 
in  the  Cretaceous,  the  Eocene  and  the  Neocene  formations, 
along  the  zone  contiguous  to  the  fall  line.  Some  beds  of 
fire  clay  of  unmistakable  sedimentary  origin  and  others 
of  meta-residual  extraction  are  found  in  the  crystalline 
area.  These  meta-residual  clays  are  employed  to  bond  the 
more  refractory  clays  and  the  Middendorf  sedimentary  beds 
should  be  serviceable  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  Landrum  Fire  Brick  Works,  located  about  three 
miles  east  of  Columbia  owns  a  bed  of  good  fire  clay. 

The  above  indicated  Cretaceous  clay,  which  is  highly 
refractory,  is  mixed  with  a  meta-residual  clay,  afforded  by 
disintegrated  shales  exposed  on  the  premises.  This  meta- 
residual  clay  burns  white  and  bonds  the  refractory  clays, 
affording  excellent  results.  Incipient  vitrification  of  the 
meta-residual  clay  occurs  at  1,400  degrees  C.  This  meta- 
residual  clay  has  valuable  possibilities  in  the  potter's  art. 

The  output  of  the  connected  plant  is  about  900,000  fire 
bricks  each  year. 

The  Carolina  Fire  Brick  Company  has  a  well  equipped 
plant,  which  produces  high  grade  refractory  wares,  and 
brick  well  adapted  to  resisting  the  acid  gases  of  pyrites  fur- 
naces. Special  grades  are  well  adapted  to  lining  "glass 
tanks,"  and  blast  furnaces.  The  daily  capacity  of  this  plant 


150  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

is  60,000  brick.    The  plant  is  located  at  Killian,  on  the  Co- 
lumbia-Charlotte railway. 

This  company  owns  adjacent  to  its  plant  extensive  beds 
of  a  very  superior  fire  clay  pertaining  to  the  Cretaceous  for- 
mation. 

Stoneware  Clay  and  Potter's  Clay. 

Throughout  the  Crystalline  Region  we  observe  occa- 
sional patches  of  both  residual  and  sedimentary  clay  suita- 
ble for  the  coarser  grades  of  potter's  ware,  the  best  results 
are  secured  by  mixing  the  residual  or  meta-residual  clays 
with  the  Coastal  Plain  sedimentaries  which  are  abundantly 
available  for  this  purpose.  There  is  an  extensive  body  of 
clay  near  the  top  of  the  upper  Cretaceous  observed  in 
Aiken,  Santee  and  Pee  Dee  areas,  which  has  not  hitherto 
been  utilized,  that  is  eminently  fitted  not  only  for  these 
wares  but  should  have  been  and  will  be  utilized  for  finer 
faience  wares.  In  some  localities  two  beds  occur,  one  over 
the  other,  separated  by  about  tAventy  feet  of  sands,  the 
clay  body  aggregating  from  ten  to  forty  feet  in  thickness. 
Whereas  these  clays  are  higher  in  clay  base  and  lower  in 
fluxing  matter  than  is  specified  for  the  potter's  wares,  the 
extreme  fineness  of  the  particles  renders  them  much  more 
fusible  than  corresponding  clays  of  coarser  grain. 

Sewer  Pipe  or  Vitrified  Brick  Clays. 

Beds  of  these  clays  occur  both  in  the  crystalline  and 
Coastal  Plain  areas.  Prominent  beds  are  worked  in  Chero- 
kee county,  near  Grover,  from  which  point  about  12,000 
tons  are  shipped  each  year.  In  the  Coastal  Plain  there  are 
extensive  undeveloped  beds  near  Society  Hill  in  Darling- 
ton county  and  along  Scapo  Creek  in  Lee  county. 

Pipe,  Tile  and  Brick  Clays. 

Brick  clays  occur  extensively  in  South  Carolina  over 
the  crystalline  area  as  residual,  meta-residual  and  sedi- 
mentary deposits.  They  are  distributed  oArer  the  Coastal 
Plain  as  sedimentary  beds,  and  in  the  case  of  the  lixivia- 
tion  of  argillaceous  marls  they  occur  in  residual  deposits. 

Throughout  the  Piedmont  Region  the  lower  grades  of 
elay  are  found  residual  to  the  extent  that  the  altered 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  151 

gneisses,  feldspathic  schists,  etc.,  have  escaped  degradation. 
This  degradation,  or  erosion,  has  contributed  to  the  forma- 
tion of  higher  grades  of  sedimentary,  potters'  and  pipe  clays 
occurring  in  the  valleys  of  the  crystalline  region,  and  ovef 
the  area  of  the  Coastal  Plain  formation.  As  a  general  propo- 
sition, it  may.  said  that  the  nearer  a  sedimentary  deposit 
is  located  to  its  parent  residual  bed  the  more  closely  will  it 
conform  to  the  type  of  its  progenitor,  frequently  including 
its  softer  and  finer  impurities,  as  well  as  the  clay  substance 
in  a  concentrated  form,  the  coarser  particles  having  been 
eliminated  in  transit;  however,  in  some  belts  characteristi- 
cally feldspathic,  excellent  residual  beds  are  afforded.    But, 
on  the  whole,  the  sedimentary  valley  beds  of  the  crystalline 
formation  are  the  most  important  sources  of  supply  of  these 
days  in  this  state.    Characteristic  of  these  latter  supplies, 
we  find  prominent  deposits  at  North  Augusta,  Brookland, 
Columbia,  Camden,  and  Society  Hill.    Above  this  fall  line 
they  occur  more  or  less  through  the  much  ramified  tribu- 
tary valleys.     Below  the  fall  line  the  Cretaceous  and  Eo- 
cene formations  afford  occasional  beds  answering  the  re- 
quirements of  these  clays,  but  in  the  Coastal  Plain  area  it  is 
not  until  we  approach  what  probably  represents  the  upper 
member  of  the  Neocene  formation  that  we  find  clays  con- 
spicuously valuable  as  brick  clays.     Such  deposits  extend 
from  Garnett,  on  the  Savannah  River,  by  Walterboro,  Sum- 
merville,  St.  Stephens,  Marion,  and  thence  to  the  North 
Carolina  line,  the  entire  distance  affording  an  undulating 
zone  of  detached  areas  of  good  clay,  some  being  adapted 
to  the  manufacture  of  high  grade  face  brick. 

Along  the  part  of  the  Coastal  Plain  immediately  within 
the  zone  of  our  sand  islands  and  extending  intermittently 
over  the  section  ramified  with  bayous  and  other  short  salt 
water  streams  there  occurs  a  mantle  of  red  and  white  strat- 
ified clav,  parts  of  which  are  very  fine  grained  and  most  of 
which  affords  a  very  fair  brick  clay.  It  varies  from  0  feet 
to  34  feet  in  elevation  above  the  sea  level.  It  is  probably 
of  late  Pliocene  equivalence.  Clay  from  these  beds  has  been 
employed  in  the  neighborhood  of  Charleston  for  more  than 
a  century  in  the  manufacture  of  brick  and  of  tiling. 


152  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

Fuller's  Earth. 

In  England  these  beds  form  a  distinct  subdivision  of  the 

Triassic   formation,   but   in  South   Carolina,   the  so-called 

Fuller's  earths  are  clays  belonging  to  Eocene  and  Neocene 

formations,  and  are  of  approximately  the  same  composition 

'except  in  the  water  content,  which  is  much  lower. 

The  Eocene  beds  of  this  earth  occur  intermittently 
across  the  upper  Tertiary  belt  of  this  state  attaining  in 
places  the  depth  of  forty  feet.  There  are  beds  in  Clarendon, 
Sumter,  Florence,  Darlington,  Richland,  Kershaw,  Wil- 
Uamsburg  and  Lexington  counties,  those  of  the  first  two 
named  being  the  best  that  have  yet  come  under  the  observa- 
tion of  the  Geological  Survey. 

Neocene  beds  of  a  good  grade  occur  in  Colleton  and 
Dorchester  counties  near  Walterboro  and  Summerville  re- 
spectively. In  many  localities  the  Cretaceous  clay  marls 
have  been  mistakenly  designated  as  Fuller's  earth. 

STRUCTURAL  STONE. 

Granite. 

In  South  Carolina  some  granite  beds  have  a  gneissoid 
covering  which  in  some  instances  is  separated  by  a  layer  of 
"sap,"  in  others  by  a  cleavage  plane,  and  in  still  other  cases 
there  is  no  sharp  separation,  the  gneiss  graduating  with 
depth  into  granitic  form.  In  some  sections  of  the  state  there 
are  beds  uniformly  gneissoid.  Both  the  granite  and  gneiss 
are  syenitic  in  some  localities.  There  are  deposits  of  one  or 
more  of  these  forms  in  every  county  north  of  a  line  connect- 
ing Aiken,  Columbia  and  Cheraw,  suitable  for  either  monu- 
mental, structural  or  road  building  purposes,  but  many  are 
so  remote  from  transportation  facilities  as  to  confine  their 
availability  strictly  to  local  use.  And  in  so  much  as  enor- 
mous beds  are  situated  within  easy  access  of  the  markets 
it  is  deemed  sufficient  for  the  purposes  of  this  article  to  con- 
fine attention  to  those  more  readily  available  beds,  which 
by  reason  of  transportation  facilities  or  pronounced  neigh- 
borhood exigencies  can  claim  some  actual  or  immediately 
prospective  economic  value. 

Chesterfield  County  affords  a  good  bed  of  granite,  said 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  153 

to  be  of  superior  quality,  at  a  point  four  miles  north  of  Jef- 
ferson towards  which  two  branch  railway  lines  are  being 
projected.  There  are  good  indications  of  this  stone  near 
the  A.  C.  L.  B.  R.,  where  it  crosses  the  North  Carolina  state 
line  of  Kershaw  county,  and  southwest  of  Heath  Springs 
station,  occurs  an  extensive  granite  area  affording  a  con- 
siderable variety  of  high  grade  granite.  The  porphyritic 
pink  granite  of  this  section  is  strikingly  beautiful  for 
architectural  purposes.  The  gray  granite  which  is  under 
development  is  of  a  very  superior  grade  and  finds  high  fa- 
vor in  the  market,  which  it  supplies  with  both  dimension 
and  dressed  stone. 

Lancaster  county  presents  an  enormous  deposit  of  a  su- 
perior fine  grained  granite  near  the  Catawba  Kiver  and 
within  five  miles  of  the  nearest  railway. 

About  four  miles  west  of  Lancaster  appear  boulders  of 
a  granite  of  the  Scotch  type  excellently  adapted  to  monu- 
mental work. 

Fairfield  county:  Affords  the  most  extensive  occurrence 
of  high  grade  granites,  and  is  the  scene  of  the  greatest  de- 
velopment of  quarries,  and  of  the  finishing  of  their  products, 
known  in  this  state. 

Rockton  on  the  Southern  Railway  is  connected  by  a 
spur  track  with  the  Rion,  Bunwick  &  Anderson  quarries, 
the  properties  of  the  Winnsboro  Granite  Company.  They  are 
equipped  with  an  extensive  modern  plant  for  turning  out 
work  of  any  required  size,  design  and  finish.  The  several 
quarries  afford  a  corresponding  number  of  varieties  ranging 
from  fine  to  coarse  grained  granite.  Excellent  paving  blocks 
are  yielded  by  one  of  the  quarries.  The  Stewart  quarry, 
the  property  of  the  Stewart  Stone  Company,  is  likewise  near 
Rockton,  and  has  been  an  active  producer. 

Blairs  on  the  Southern  Railway  is  within  easy  access  of 
vast  beds  of  granite  near  the  Broad  river. 

The  Lieper,  Davis  &  Company's  quarries  in  this  section 
have  been  actively  operated  for^  a  number  of  years  in  sup- 
plying rough,  dimension,  and  dressed  stone  of  several  va- 
rieties of  granite,  some  especially  adapted  to  best  rnonu- 


154  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

mental  work.     In  the  Blair  vicinity  there  are  several  ex- 
tensive properties  of  granite  which  remain  undeveloped. 

Chester:  Along  the  Wateree  and  Broad  Elvers,  Chester 
county  exposes  good  granite. 

Richland:  The  Richland  granite  is  exposed  at  Granby 
where  it  has  long  been  quarried,  (the  greatest  development 
of  this  deposit  is  in  Lexington  county  arcoss  the  Congaree 
river.)  Exposures  of  granite  are  observed  intermittently 
for  several  miles  up  the  river. 

York:  Granite  is  prominently  exposed  on  Fishing 
creek  and  along  the  C-a.ta.wba  river  but  has  not  received  sys- 
tematic development. 

Union:  Exposes  a  fine  bed  of  granite  near  Carlisle,  it 
stands  in  high  repute. 

Newberry:  From  a  point  two  miles  east  of  Newberry 
good  granite  is  intermittently  exposed  as  far  as  the  county 
limit  on  the  east  where  it  joins  the  Fairfield  bed  near  Blairs. 
The  upper  layer  consists  of  enormous  boulders  in  which  the 
rift  and  grain  are  so  true  that  lintels  and  slabs  of  any 
reasonable  length  are  readily  split.  This  stone  has  long- 
been  in  use.  There  is  no  available  record  of  the  quarrying 
of  the  main  body  of  the  underlying  granite  from  which 
the  boulders  are  separated  by  sap. 

Spartanburg :  Has  two  quarries  in  operation  near  Paco- 
let  station  on  the  Southern  Railway.  The  Keystone  Granite 
Company  and  the  Pacolet  Granite  Company  are  the  only 
two  operators,  although  much  granite  occurs  on  other  prop- 
erties. This  stone  has  entered  the  construction  of  many 
prominent  buildings. 

Greenville:  Exhibits  a  good  bed  of  structural  gneiss, 
near  Paris  mountain  and  elsewhere  remote  from  trans- 
portation. 

Laurens:  Affords  several  good  prospects  near  Water- 
loo and  an  active  quarry  at  Cold  Point,  where  fine  curbing 
and  other  products  are  turned  out  by  the  Cold  Point  Gravel 
Company. 

Greenwood:  Affords  a  bed  of  granite  near  Coronaco, 
where  it  has  been  developed  to  a  limited  extent. 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  155 

Saluda:  Supplies  a  fine  mill  stone  granite  along 
Clouds  Creek  about  seven  miles  northwest  of  Batesburg. 

Lexington:  Reveals  extensive  beds  of  granite  adjacent 
to  the  Congaree  river  opposite  Columbia  and  also  along  the 
Saluda  River.  The  quarries  opposite  Columbia  are  operated 
by  several  large  concerns. 

Pickens:  Contributes  great  quantities  of  gneiss  for 
railway  ballast  from  Cedar  mountain,  on  the  Southern. 
Railway,  where  it  is  quarried  by  the  Beverly  Bros.  This 
rock  is  abundantly  exposed  at  numerous  points. 

Oconee:  Shows  good  stone,  near  the  Southern  Rail- 
way Bridge,  on  the  Tugaloo  River;  also  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Westminister;  Walhalla  affords  a  good  gneiss. 

Anderson:  Exhibits  an  old  quarry  two  miles  from 
Pendleton  which  was  formerly  connected  by  a  spur  track 
and  operated  to  provide  stone  for  piers,  abutments  and  cul- 
verts of  the  old  Blue  Ridge  Railway.  It  affords  a  high 
grade  gneissoid  granite. 

Abbey ville:  Affords  good  syenitic  granite  near  the 
County  seat  and  close  to  the  S.  A.  L.  Railway.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  split  but  affords  a  beautiful  finish. 

Edgefield:  Has  an  extensive  bed  of  granite  south  of 
the  court  house  and  near  the  Southern  Railway.  This  bed 
has  been  extensively  quarries  by  the  United  States 
Government  to  supply  stone  for  jetty  work.  It  is  now  op- 
erated by  Capt.  Ross. 

Aiken :  Exposes  a  gneissoid  granite  along  Horse  Creek, 
adjacent  to  the  Southern  Railway,  intermittently  from 
Graniteville  to  Vaucluse.  The  product  of  this  bed  has  been 
extensively  utilized  locally.  In  addition  to  the  above 
enumerated  deposits  there  are  numerous  beds  in 
the  state,  some  of  which  are  utilized  for  neigh- 
borhood domestic  purposes.  Apart  from  the  gran- 
ites, gneisses,  syenites,  marbles  and  lime  stones 
no  structural  stones  are  as  yet  known  of  commercial 
importance.  There  are  vast  beds  of  soapstone  radiating 
from  Chester  westerly;  extensive  strata  of  itacolumnitic 
sandstone  in  York  and  Cherokee  counties  of  value  in  the 
event  of  the  development  of  local  furnaces. 


156  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

Koad  metal :  In  addition  to  the  good  road  metal  afforded 
by  the  granites,  limestones  and  other  rocks  indicated  above 
the  following  are  worthy  of  note. 

Chert :  A  large  bed  of  this  material  of  a  superior  char- 
acter occurs  about  one  mile  north  of  Newberry  where  it  is 
quarried,  sized  and  supplied  to  the  market  from  a  well 
equipped  plant  operated  by  Cold  Point  Gravel  Company. 

Cobblestones:  Occur  at  the  points  where  the  greater 
streams  debouch  into  the  Coastal  Plain  near  Augusta,  Co- 
lumbia, Camden,  and  Cheraw.  Beds  of  these  loose  stones 
are  intermittently  exposed  on  the  Savannah  River  plateau, 
extending  through  Aiken,  Barnwell  and  Hampton  counties. 
Along  the  edge  of  the  plateau  extending  from  Columbia 
by  way  of  Horrell  Hill,  to  a  point  opposite  Camden;  very 
prominently  on  the  plateaus  adjacent  to  the  Pee  Dee  River 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Cheraw.  The  latter  beds  are  exten- 
sively utilized  for  railroad  ballast. 

Cement  Gravel:  A  tenacious  red  clay  enclosing  small 
rounded  pebbles  is  thus  designated,  and  affords  a  fine  road- 
bed material;  chiefly  utilized  by  municipalities.  It  occurs 
in  fine  beds  near  Beech  Island  on  the  P.  R.  &  W.  C.  Rail- 
road and  is  found  elsewhere  associated  with  the  area  indi- 
cated for  cobblestones.  A  bed  convenient  to  transporta- 
tion occurs,  about  one  mile  south  of  Camden,  alongside  the 
Southern  R.  R.  Shale  and  slate  suitable  for  road  construc- 
tion are  fully  exposed  along  the  Saluda  River  near  the 
Dutch  Fork  and  also  along  the  Broad  River  adjacent  to  the 
Southern  Railway,  north  of  Frost  Mill,  and  extends  north- 
easterly through  Fairfield  county. 

Roadway  clay:  Clays  prominently  adapted  to  cement- 
ing sandy  roadways  are  found  in  the  Lafeyette  beds  most 
prominently  developed  in  the  area  immediately  south  of 
the  fall  line  but  also  distributed  irregularly  over  the  greater 
part  of  the  coastal  plain,  which  is  characterized  by  sandy 
roadways. 

Quartz:  Chloritic  slates  interstratified  with  closely  al- 
ternating prolific  veins  of  quartz  occur  in  Lancaster,  lower 
York,  Chester,  Union,  Laurens,  Abbeville,  Fairfield,  New- 
berry,  Saluda,  Greenwood  and  Edgefield  counties. 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OP  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  157 

This  material  is  used  for  ballasting  railways  and  for 
macadamizing  roads,  but  for  the  latter  purpose  is  inferior 
to  either  limestone,  chert,  granite  or  tough  clay  slate.  The 
quartz  is  utilized  for  packing  the  glover  towers  connected 
with  the  manufacture  of  sulphuric  acid.  The  quality  found 
near  the  Southern  Railway  between  Winnsboro  and  Ridge- 
way  is  excellently  adapted  to  this  limited  use.  A  very  good 
quality  of  quartz  for  this  purpose  is  exposed  by  the  C.  C.  C. 
Railway,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  Kings  Creek. 
The  entire  region  of  the  crystalline  rocks  of  South  Carolina 
affords  in  a  varying  degree  veins  of  this  barren  quartz,  some 
attaining  the  width  of  fifteen  feet,  others  constituting  mere 
stringers.  Its  uses  are  largely  confined  to  the  improvement 
of  the  neighboring  highways. 

An  important  adjunct  to  good  roads  not  yet  appreciated 
in  this  state  is  to  be  found  in  the  soft  marls  so  abundantly 
distributed  over  the  Coastal  Plains.  It  is  plastic  and  has  a 
high  cementing  quality  and  therefore  if  mixed  with  the 
prevailing  sands  should  afford  a  good  road  plating  for  the 
highways  of  the  lower  counties. 

There  are  also  numerous  exposures  of  marl  in  a  very 
hard  semi-crystallized  form  exhibited  along  the  banks  of 
the  Santee  river  which  are  well  adapted  to  the  macadamiz- 
ing of  roads. 

The  distribution  of  these  marls  is  indicated  under  a 
separate  caption. 

Marble — Limestone. 

These  two  rocks  are  treated  together  for  the  reason 
that  in  South  Carolina  they  intergraduate,  the  marble  ordi- 
narily appearing  as  a  crystalline  stratum  intercolated  with 
limestone,  and  as  localized  zones  of  crystallized  limestones, 
the  whole  attaining  in  places  the  width  of  400 
feet.  The  most  prominently  revealed  seam  of  this  material 
extends  with  numerous  exposures  from  near  the  North  Car- 
olina line  at  Grovers  through  Cherokee  county  to  Limestone 
Springs  and  thence  to  Thickety  Creek.  It  has  been  quar- 
ried at  numerous  points  for  fluxing  iron  ore  and  for  manu- 
facturing of  lime,  but  the  only  point  at  which  it  is  now  ex- 


158  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

tracted  is  adjacent  to  Limestone  Springs,  situated  about  one 
and  a  quarter  miles  from  the  southern  K.  E.  at  Gaffney, 
with  which  a  spur  track  connects  the  quarry.  By  careful 
selection  a  fair  grade  of  marble  is  obtained,  which,  however, 
is  not  susceptible  of  a  very  high  polish.  This  stone  affords 
beautiful  effects  in  "Random  Rubble"  masonry  especially 
when, the  points  are  "hammer  dressed."  It  is  excellently 
adapted  to  the  structure  of  handsome  residences  and  pub- 
lic structures.  The  broken  stone  constitutes  the  best  of  ma- 
cadam metal. 

The  quarry  is  operated  by  the  Limestone. Springs  Lime 
Works,  four  furnaces  of  an  improved  type  being  used  to 
convert  the  output  into  lime. 

Marble  occurs  in  the  western  part  of  Union  county,  also 
in  Laurens  county  on  Reedy  River,  near  Tumbling  Shoals 
at  Masters  Kiln  near  the  Saluda  River  and  on  the  banks  of 
the  Saluda  near  Warees  Shoals,  and  at  intermediate 
points.  It  affords  good  lime  and  could  be  utilized 
to  supply  the  demand  for  an  ordinary  grade  of  marble.  A 
stratum  of  hard  limestone  graduating  in  places  to  marble, 
extends  from  near  Tomassie  Net  (about  nine  miles  north- 
east of  Walhalla)  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  being  promi- 
nently exposed  in  the  Brass  Town  neighborhood  near  the 
Georgia  line,  in  which  locality  the  crystal  or  marble  form 
prevails. 

This  limestone,  in  the  hard  blue  form,  is  exposed  in  an 
unused  cut  of  the  old  Blue  Ridge  R.  E.,  about  five  miles 

east  of  Walhalla. 

• 

Agricultural  Adjuncts — Marl. 

This  subject  is  invested  with  great  consequences  to 
South  Carolina,  not  only  in  its  relation  to  prospective  manu- 
facturing enterprises  in  the  production  of  portland  cement, 
lime  and  sand  brick,  but  also  in  its  application  to  the  im- 
provement of  agricultural  lands,  and  to  the  amelioration  of 
roadways.  In  quantity  and  distribution  the  beds  are  vast; 
in  physical  condition  they  range  from  the  softness  of  plas- 
tic clay  to  the  hardness  of  the  best  limestone;  in  quality 
they  comprise  grades  exceeding  ninety  per  cent,  of  calcium 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  159 

carbonate;  soft,  fine  grained  and  almost  gritless  varieties 
analyzing  over  seventy  per  cent,  of  calcium  carbonate,  no 
magnesia,  and  almost  sufficient  alumina  to  constitute  a 
natural  cement;  soft  grades  high  in  lime,  phosphoric  acid 
and  potash,  thus  affording  an  excellent  fertilizer  with  which 
to  effect  an  economic  regeneration  of  the  lands  adjacent  to 
these  beds;  deposits  high  in  both  lime  and  magnesia  and 
therefore  of  value  to  the  cereals. 

These  marls  have  greater  potentialities  for  the  perma- 
nent improvement  of  lands  than  has  been  realized  from  the 
chemically  treated  products  of  the  phosphate  beds,  which 
are  active  but  ephemeral  and  ever  require  expensive  renew- 
als of  application.  Note  the  example  of  New  Jersey  in  theju- 
dicious  application  of  marl  to  lands,  and  realize  the  most  re- 
markable increase  in  productiveness,  and  enhancement  of 
values.  In  these  respects  her  lands,  at  one  time  poor  and  al- 
most valueless,  now  excel  the  lands  of  our  most  favored 
agricultural  sections. 

Go  to  Bostick  and  other  points  in  South  Carolina, 
where  fields  were  judiciously  marled  more  than  forty  years 
ago,  and  there  appreciate  the  advantages  of  such  fields  over 
their  unmarled  neighbors,  separated  by  no  more  than 
twenty  feet,  localities  in  some  cases  where  the  better  agri- 
cultural marls  were  not  recognized,  and  the  inferior  ones 
were  used. 

Marls  in  South  Carolina  occur  in  parts  of  the  Cretace- 
ous, Eocene,  Oligocene,  Miocene,  Pliocene  and  Post  Plio- 
cene formations.  Their  exposures  are  principally  along 
the  rivers  and  their  tributaries  within  the  lower  two-thirds 
of  the  coastal  plain  and  increasing  within  certain  limits  as 
we  approach  tide  water.  Thus  the  Edisto,  Ashley,  Cooper, 
Santee,  Pee  Dee  and  Waccainaw  Rivers,  and  their  lower 
tributaries,  expose  enormous  deposits,  some  constituting 
bluffs  thirty  feet  in  height.  The  Ashepoo,  Salkehatchie  and 
Savannah  Rivers  afford  marls,  but  of  less  frequent  occur- 
rence and  less  prominent  exposures. 

Along  the  Edisto  River  marl  is  intermittently  exposed 
from  a  point  four  miles  below  Branch  ville  to  a  point  near 
the  Charleston  &  Savannah  R.  R.  bridge;  along  Ashley 


160  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

Kiver  from  its  source  to  the  C.  &  S.  R.  R. ;  along  the  Cooper 
River  from  its  source  to  the  Charleston  Naval  station;  along 
the  Santee  from  Half  Way  Swamp  (Orangeburg  county)  to 
Wambaw  Creek;  along  the  Pee  Dee  from  the  mouth  of  Jef- 
fries Creek  (in  Florence  county)  to  Topsaw  Landing,  (about 
seventeen  miles  northeast  of  Georgetown);  along  Lynches 
River  from  Effingham  to  the  Pee  Dee  River;  along  the  Wac- 
camaw  River  from  Hammond  to  Bucksville. 

The  beds  best  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  cement 
occur  along  the  Ashley  and  Cooper  Rivers  where  good  water 
is  available  for  navigation.  Experimental  briquettes  of  ce- 
ment made  from  Ashley  marl  exceeded  by  fifty  per  cent, 
the  tensile  strength  required  by  the  United  States  Army 
Engineer's  specifications.  The  upper  portion  of  the  marl 
along  the  Santee  River  is  very  hard  and  is  well  adapted  for 
road  metal.  The  black  soft  cretaceous  clay-marls,  com- 
monly called  soap  stone,  which  occur  prominently  developed 
along  Jeffries  Creek  at  its  confluence  with  the  Pee  Dee 
River,  and  along  this  latter,  river  and  its  tributaries,  in  beds 
exceeding  two  hundred  feet  in  thickness,  is  an  excellent  ag- 
ricultural marl  which  should  be  extensively  utilized.  It 
shows  prominently  on  Bighams  Branch  (Florence  county) 
at  Ards  Landing  (on  Lynches  River),  from  which  point  it  ex- 
tends under  the. lower  part  of  Williamsburg  county;  it  also 
shows  near  old  Effingham  and  at  Hodges  Mill  and  along  the 
upper  Waccamaw  River. 

In  addition  to  the  above  marl  beds  of  Greenland  marl 
occur  in  this  state  at  numerous  points,  their  value  consist- 
ing mainly  in  the  contained  phosphoric  acid  and  potash,  the 
latter  being  in  the  form  of  Glanconite  (a  compound  silicate 
of  potash  which  is  but  slowly  soluble.) 

There  are  two  extensive  plants  with  furnaces,  equipped 
for  mining  and  calcining  the  Tertiary  marls  between  the 
Ashley  and  Cooper  Rivers. 


Mineral  Resources  of  Vermont. 

BY  G.  H.  PERKINS,  STATE  GEOLOGIST,  BURLINGTON,  VERMONT. 

Comparatively  few  mines  have  been  worked  in  Ver- 
mont and  none  of  these  have  proved  profitable  in  the  long 
run.  There  are  extensive  deposits  of  Chalcopyrite,  Copper 
Pyrites,  in  several  localities,  notably  at  Copperfield  and 
South  Stratford  and  two  important  mines  have  been  worked 
in  these  beds,  the  old  Ely  Goddard  mine  and  the  Elizabeth 
mine,  but  only  the  latter  is  now  in  operation.  Other  smaller 
deposits  of  the  same  mineral  have  at  different  times  been 
worked,  but  not  to  any  profit. 

Gold  is  found  in  many  places  in  different  parts  of  the 
state,  but  it  is  nowhere  in  sufficient  quantity  to  pay  for  col- 
lecting. 

Talc  of  good  quality  is  found  in  numerous  localities  and 
is  worked  in  one  or  two.  Asbestos  in  considerable  amount 
occurs  in  Lowell,  Belvidere  and  Moretown  and  mines  in  all 
these  places  have  been  opened  and  more  or  less  mineral 
taken  out.  It  seems  quite  likely  that  in  the  near  future  As- 
bestos will  be  mined  extensively  in  this  state. 

Steatite,  or  Soapstone,  occurs  in  several  towns  and  is 
quarried  in  several.  Recently  Platinum  has  been  found  in 
some  of  the  rocks  from  the  Plymouth  gold  region.  Thus  far 
but  very  small  quantities  of  the  platinum  have  been  ob- 
tained. The  presence  of  the  metal  seems  to  be  certain  and 
perhaps  in  the  future  it  may  be  extracted  in  larger  amount. 

Formerly  iron,  ochre,  manganese  and  other  materials 
were  mined  in  Vermont,  but  most  of  the  mines  have  long- 
since  been  given  up.  It  is  not  impossible,  however,  that 
some  of  them  may  be  again  opened  and  worked,  for  modern 
methods  can  find  profit  where  those  of  fifty  years  ago  found 
only  loss. 

It  is  in  her  quarries  rather  than  in  mines  that  Ver- 
mont's mineral  resources  chiefly  exist.  And  here  the  story 
is  quite  different  from  that  just  told. 

For  more  than  a  century  there  have  been  quarries  of 


162  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

Marble,  Slate  and  Limestone,  and  Granite  was  quarried 
over  seventy  years  ago.  In  the  earlier  years,  soon  after  the 
Revolution,  these  quarries  were  only  small  openings  and 
the  total  amount  of  stone  taken  out  was  small,  but  the  de- 
mand increased  as  the  country  grew  in  population  and 
wealth,  and  during  the  past  decade  Vermont  has  far  ex- 
ceeded any  other  state  in  the  Union  except  Pennsylvania,  in 
the  production  of  stone.  This  latter  state  greatly  surpasses 
Vermont  in  the  quantity  of  slate,  sandstone  and  limestone 
produced,  but  in  the  production  of  the  finer  grades  of  stone, 
those  used  for  monumental  and  interior  work,  Vermont  by 
far  exceeds  any  other, state. 

At  first  the  demand  for  the  stone  from  Vermont  quar- 
ries was  only  very  local,  but  now  these  products  are  sold 
not  only  in  every  state  in  the  Union,  but  in  every  civilized 
country  in  the  world.  The  increase  in  the  sale  of  Vermont 
stone  is  shown  by  the  following  facts:  In  1889  the  total 
value  of  stone  sold  was  $1,787,283.  In  1890,  the  amount  was 
$3,593,449.  In  1900  it  was  $4,516,102.  Last  year,  1903,  it  was 
not  less  than  $6,000,000,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  during  the  present  year  the  sales  will  reach  $7,000,000. 
Not  less  than  $12,000,000  is  invested  in  the  quarries,  and 
some  10,000  men  are  employed  in  getting  out  and  finishing 
the  stone.  New  quarries  are  constantly  being  opened,  new 
and  better  mills  built.  Notwithstanding  some  labor  trou- 
bles, there  is  much  activity  in  all  the  quarrying  centers  and 
increased  business  is  reported  by  all.  Vermont  is  especially 
noted  as  the  marble  producing  state.  Of  all  the  marble  sold 
in  the  United  States,  Vermont  produces  more  than  three- 
fifths,  and  of  the  finest  grades,  monumental,  statuary,  inte- 
rior finish,  etc.,  this  state  furnishes  over  two-thirds.  Nearly 
all  of  the  true  marble,  that  which  has  been  formed  by  the 
metamorphosis  of  limestone,  is  found  in  Rutland  county, 
though  there  are  a  few  important  quarries  in  Addison  and 
Bennington  counties.  The  large  quarry  of  the  Brandon- 
Italian  at  Brandon  is  most  northerly,  and  the  Norcross- 
West  quarries  in  the  southern  part  of  Dorset,  the  most 
southerly.  The  marble  belt,  however,  extends  considerably 
farther  north  than  this  would  imply,  but  no  quarries  are  at 


MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  VERMONT.  163 

• 

present  worked  beyond  the  Brandon  quarry.  These  mar- 
bles are  all  light,  except  in  one  or  two  of  the  quarries,  as^ 
True  Blue  and  Pittsford  Dark,  where  the  black  or  dark  blue 
clouding  covers  the  whole  mass.  Pure  white,  statuary  mar- 
ble is  found  in  some  quarries,  but  for  the  most  part  the 
stone  is  white,  clouded  or  banded,  with  more  or  less  nu- 
merous bands,  lines  or  blotches  of  black,  blue,  green,  brown, 
pink,  and,  more  rarely,  other  colors.  Some  of  the  varieties 
are  very  beautiful.  As  has  been  indicated,  the  stone  is  not 
only  elegant  in  color  and  shading,  but  much  of  it  is  of  very 
fine  texture.  On  this  account  comparatively  little  of  the 
product  of  the  Vermont  quarries  is  sold  for  building.  It  is 
too  valuable  for  that,  since  it  can  be  sold  for  statuary,  mon- 
uments, etc.,  for  three  or  four  times  as  much  as  for  building. 
Still,  in  every  quarry  there  is  stone  which  is  only  suitable 
for  building,  and  it  is  obviously  an  advantage  to  sell  this 
for  any  price  rather  than  throw  it  on  the  dump.  The  Chazy 
limestone  of  Isle  la  Motte  has  long  been  sawed  and  polished 
in  small  quantities  and  sold  as  black  marble,  and  some  of 
the  layers  are  of  excellent  quality.  At  Swanton  there  is  a 
light  drab  limestone,  usually  used  for  making  lime,  but  this 
is  sometimes  finished  as  dove  marble  and  some  of  the  slabs 
are  very  dainty  and  pretty.  In  some  parts  of  the  Cambrian 
Red  Sandrock,  which  runs  north  and  south  through  the 
state,  there  are  calcareous  beds  which  afford  the  Champlain 
marbles.  These  are  much  harder  than  ordinary  marble  and 
consequently  more  costly,  but  they  also  are  capable  of  a 
more  brilliant  polish,  and,  for  interior  work,  are  more  de- 
sirable and  more  elegant.  They  are  endlessly  varied,  no 
two  slabs  being  precisely  alike,  though  sufficiently  so  for 
practical  purposes.  The  colors  are  usually  reds  of  very  vari- 
ous shades,  and  white,  though  olives,  greens  and  brow^ns  are 
not  uncommon.  The  colors  are  usually  commingled,  so  that 
the  effect  is  clouded  or  mottled,  and  many  of  the  slabs  are 
magnificent. 

Still  harder,  and  even  more  elegant,  is  what  is  called 
the  "Roxbury  marble."  This  is  really  a  verde  antique,  a 
serpentine,  and  no  finer  can  be  found  anywhere.  The  mix- 


164  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

ture  of  dark  and  light  greens  and  black  with  pure  white, 
often  seen  in  the  Roxbury  stone,  produces  a  superb  effect. 

Although  Vermont  granite  has  been  quarried  for 
nearly  a  hundred  years,  at  least  in  a  small  way,  yet  it  is 
only  within  the  last  twenty  years  that  it  has  been  taken  out 
in  any  large  quantity. 

During  this  period  the  industry  has  increased,  and  es- 
pecially during  the  last  ten  years.  Twenty  years  ago  the 
total  output  was  not  more  than  $80,000,  while  ten  years  ago 
it  had  increased  to  more  than  $700,000,  and  five  years  ago  it 
wTas  a  little  more  than  $1,000,000,  while  during  the  past  year 
it  was  nearly  $2,000,000,  and  the  present  year  bids  fair  to 
outdo  all  that  have  preceded. 

While  two  other  states  produce  a  larger  actual  amount 
of  granite,  none  furnishes  so  much  that  is  suitable  for  mon- 
umental and  other  fine  work,  the  greater  amount  sold  by 
Maine  and  Massachusetts  being  largely  made  up  of  stone 
sold  for  paving  and  building.  Very  little  of  the  Vermont 
granite  goes  into  paving. 

The  Vermont  granite  is  a  very  bright  clear  stone.  It 
is  all  gray  of  various  shades  from  "Barre  Dark"  to  the 
Bethel  granite  which  is  nearly  white.  Some  of  the  quarries 
produce  a  very  hard,  compact,  fine  grained  stone  which  is 
admirably  fitted  to.  receive  delicate  designs  and  any  sort 
of  fine  carving. 

Granite  is  widely  distributed  over  the  state  and  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  any  present  possibility  of  exhausting 
the  supply  which  is  practically  unlimited.  Thus  far  most  of 
the  deposits  have  scarcely  been  touched.  Not  only  in 
beauty,  but  also  in  strength,  durability  and  freedom  from 
stain  when  exposed  to  the  weather,  the  Vermont  granite  can 
well  bear  comparison  with  that  from  any  part  of  this  or 
other  countries. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  granite  of  this  state  is  all  gray, 
but  there  is  on  Mt.  Ascutney  a  quarry  of  dark  green  syenite 
which  is  sold  by  the  name  of  "Green  granite."  It  is  a  very 
dark,  somewhat  mottled  green  of  a  rich  handsome  appear- 
ance and  is  unlike  any  other  stone  sold  in  the  country.  It 
Jias  been  used  for  columns  in  some  of  the  finest  buildings 


MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  VERMONT.  165 

in  the  country  and  at  present  there  is  being  gotten  out  a 
contract  for  over  $80,000  worth  of  columns  for  a  large  bank 
building.  It  is  noticeable  that,  while  the  marble  of  this 
state  is  quarried,  dressed  and  sold  by  only  about  half  a 
dozen  firms,  the  granite  is  produced  by  over  fifty  companies. 

The  great  slate  belt  of  Vermont  is  nearly  thirty  miles 
long  from  north  to  south  and  from  five  to  ten  miles  wride.  It 
is  all  included  in  Rutland  county,  but  extends  westward 
into  the  adjoining  parts  of  New  York.  Within  this  area 
there  are  not  less  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  quarries,  al- 
though some  of  these  are  temporarily  or  permanently  aban- 
doned. 

Probably  slate  has  been  quarried  as  long  as  marble. 
The  earliest  headstone  and  hearthstones  were  of  this  mate- 
rial. The  quarries  in  this  region  produce  several  varieties 
of  slate,  but  no  red  nor  black.  The  latter  is  found  in  other 
parts  of  the  state,  but  no  red  occurs  in  Vermont,  though 
fine  quarries  are  worked  just  over  the  line  in  New  York. 

The  principal  varieties  quarried  in  Rutland  county  are 
several  shades  of  green,  especially  an  unfading  green  which 
is  much  in  demand  in  England  and  several  shades  of  pur- 
ple. There  is  also  a  little  dark  gray.  At  Northfield  in 
Washington  county  there  are  several  quarries  of  an  excel- 
lent black  slate  which  is  unchanged  by  the  weather. 

Probably  the  first  stone  which  the  first  settlers  took 
from  the  ground  was  limestone.  This  was  cased  for  founda- 
tions and  burned  to  make  lime.  There  are  several  large 
quarries  of  limestone  and  extensive  kilns  by  which  a  large 
amount  of  good  lime  is  made.  Limestone  is  also  sold  for 
bridge  and  other  supports  and  for  buildings,  the  annual  pro- 
duction being  valued  at  several  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars. 

The  quality  of  Vermont  stone  is  well  shown  Dy  the  fact 
'that  after  severe  tests  it  has  been  adopted  in  many  public 
buildings  in  widely  different  parts  of  the  country.  Many 
of  the  finest  monuments  and  mausoleums  are  of  Vermont 
marble  and  granite,  the  public  library  now  in  process  of 
building  in  New  York  city,  the  Pennsylvania  state  capitol, 
the  Union  railroad  station  in  Washington,  the  Harvard 
medical  buildings  are  being  built  of  Vermont  stone. 


Mining  Laws. 

BY  M.  D.  LEEHEY,  SEATTLE,  WASH. 

The  program  committee  evidently  did  not  expect  an 
exhaustive  treatment  or  even  a  general  review  of  this  sub- 
ject. Perhaps  if  they  did  so  they  would  have  assigned  some 
one  better  able  to  treat  it.  But  the  subject  is  certainly  too 
broad  and  comprehensive  to  be  covered  by  a  single  paper, 
and  it  has  seemed  the  better  plan  to  select  for  discussion  the 
recent  court  decisions  of  most  importance  upon  the  subject 
of  mining  law,  and  to  note  briefly  the  items  of  current  inter- 
est. In  doing  so  these  remarks  may  appear  desultory  and 
rambling,  but  they  will  perhaps  be  the  more  natural  to 
the  writer  for  that  reason. 

Recent  Decisions. 

Two  important  decisions  worthy  of  special  mention 
were  rendered  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
during  the  present  year.  Both  opinions  were  written  by 
Mr.  Justice  Brewer,  and  both  were  filed  on  May  2,  1904. 

In  re  Clipper  Mining  Company  vs.  Eli  Mining  and  Land 
Company,  the  court  affirmed  the  Supreme  Court  of  Colorado, 
and  held  that  a  valid  placer  location  entitles  the  locator  to 
the  exclusive  possession  of  the  surface,  and  that  no  one 
may  enter  thereon  to  prospect  for  unknown  veins  or  lodes; 
that  any  such  entry  constitutes  a  trespass;  and  that  a  dis- 
covery made  upon  such  an  entry  is  not  a  valid  discovery  of 
a  lode  or  vein  such  as  will  entitle  the  locator  to  its  posses- 
sion or  patent.  The  reasoning  is  cogent  and  conclusive. 
While  recognizing  the  provision  of  the  law  that  a  placer 
location  does  not  include  any  lode  or  vein  already  known 
to  exist,  yet  the  court  says  it  does  give  the  locator  exclu- 
sive possession  of  the  surface.  If  one  person  may  enter 
thereon  to  prospect  for  lodes,  then  many  may  do  so,  and 
the  possession  of  the  placer  locator  would  amount  to  noth- 
ing. It  recognizes  the  placer  miner's  possession  as  of  the 
highest  dignity,  and  hence  any  entry  thereon  without  his 


MINING   LAWS.  167 

consent  is  a  trespass,  and  recurs  to  the  already  well  estab- 
lished principle  that  no  valid  location  can  be  initiated  by 
a  trespass. 

The  court  decided  in  the  same  case  that  a  placer 
locator  may  adverse  in  the  usual  manner  a  conflicting  appli- 
cation for  patent  to  a  lode  claim,  thus  determining  a  ques- 
tion of  practice  heretofore  much  in  doubt. 

In  re  St.  Louis  Mining  and  Milling  Company  vs.  Mon- 
tana Mining  Company,  Ltd.,  the  Supreme  Court  held  that 
the  owner  of  a  vein  who  has  the  right  to  pursue  it  on  its  dip 
into  an  adjoining  claim,  must  follow  the  vein  in  doing  so, 
and  cannot  run  a  crosscut  tunnel  into  the  ground  for  that 
purpose.  In  other  words,  the  court  held  in  effect  that  one 
who  has  a  so-called  extralateral  right  to  follow  his  vein  into 
an  adjoining  property  must  work  the  same  by  means  of  an 
incline  shaft  run  up  on  the  vein.  At  least,  the  court  held 
in  the  case  cited,  that  a  tunnel  could  not  be  run  into  the 
adjoining  property  to  crosscut  the  vein  for  such  purposes. 

Extralateral  Rights. 

This  same  law  of  the  apex,  or  so-called  extralateral 
rights,  still  continues  to  be  the  most  perplexing  feature  of 
the  western  mining  laws  and  the  one  producing  the  most 
controversy.  Although  in  numerous  decisions  of  our  courts 
of  last  resort  almost  every  possible  phase  of  the  subject  has 
been  treated,  and  definite  rules  announced  covering  its  ap- 
plication to.  almost  every  conceivable  state  of  facts,  yet 
complications  continue  to  arise  requiring  further  interpre- 
tation of  this  law,  while  its  application  to  existing  geolog- 
ical conditions  presents  numerous  and  complicated  disputes 
as  to  facts.  Indeed,  it  is  .safe  to  say  that  after  title  has 
been  acquired  to  mineral  lands  upon  the  public  domain,  and 
the  controversies  incident  to  the  acquisition  of  the  title  elim- 
inated, more  disputes  arise  over  real  or  alleged  extralateral 
rights  than  upon  all  the  provisions  of  the  national  mining 
law  considered  together.  Naturally  this  has  suggested  an 
amendment  abolishing  the  apex  rule  and  providing  for  a 
grant  of  larger  surface  with  no  extralateral  right,  and  in- 
deed a  bill  to  this  effect  has  been  introduced  into  the  na- 
tional congress. 


168  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

But  a  consideration  of  such  amendment  involves  seri- 
ous questions.  We  must  remember  that  any  change  in  well 
established  laws,  especially  one  of  such  vast  importance,  is 
fraught  with  the  greatest  danger,  and  must  be  approached 
with  extreme  caution.  Before  any  law  is  altered  two  things 
should  be  clearly  apparent:  First,  an  actual  necessity  for 
the  change,  and  secondly,  that  the  one  proposed  will  afford 
the  relief  desired.  Applying  this  rule  to  the  proposed 
amendment  wre  should  first  be  fully  convinced  that  the  apex 
rule  is  a  mistake,  and  that  to  grant  extralateral  rights  is 
wrong  in  principle.  Then  secondly,  we  must  consider  the 
wisdom  and  expediency  of  such  a  change  at  this  time,  after 
the  experience  of  nearly  half  a  century  with  the  apex  rule, 
under  which  rights  have  been  acquired  that  cannot  be 
affected  by  legislation,  for  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
any  change  now  made  will  apply  only  to  locations  of  min- 
eral lands  made  after  the  passage  of  such  amendment. 

Considering  the  first  question,  is  the  present  apex  rule 
wrong  or  dangerous  in  principle?  Is  it  unwise  to  grant 
extralateral  rights?  The  theory  upon  which  such  rights 
are  granted  is  that  the  discoverer  of  a  vein  shall  be  re- 
warded with  its  mineral.  At  the  time  of  discovery  he  can- 
not always  determine  the  course  or  strike  of  such  vein  upon 
the  surface,  to  say  nothing  about  its  dip  beneath  the  sur- 
face. There  are  numerous  instances  of  the  vein  crossing 
both  side  lines  of  the  claim,  often  running  at  right  angles 
to  the  course  its  locator  first  supposed.  HowT  then  can  a 
locator  be  supposed  to  know  its  dip?  To  protect  him  it  is 
proposed  to  allow  surface  ground  1,500  feet  wide.  But  this 
will  only  allow  750  feet  from  the  center  of  his  vein,  even  if 
he  should  be  able  to  find  that  center  and  accurately  locate 
the  course  of  that  vein  throughout  the  entire  claim — some- 
thing which  cannot  be  done  once  in  a  thousand  times.  Then 
to  grant  1,500  feet  square,  or  two  and  one-half  times  the 
size  of  the  present  claim,  simply  withdraws  that  much  addi- 
tional ground  from  exploration  and  development  by  other 
prospectors,  for  usually  but  one  vein  at  a  time  is  explored 
by  the  locator.  Again,  veins  are  usually  parallel,  or  nearly 
so,  and  a  locator  learning  for  instance  that  veins  in  his  dis- 


MINING   LAWS.  169 

trict  usually  dip  southward,  will  not  likely  explore  a  show- 
ing along  the  southern  boundary  of  his  claim  (unless  an  ex- 
ceedingly rich  one)  for  fear  that  it  wrill  soon  be  lost  beyond 
his  side  lines,  while  his  neighbor  will  probably  not  be  dis- 
posed to  sink  even  a  few  hundred  feet  in  hopes  of  finding  in 
his  ground  the  vein  whose  apex  is  a  few  feet  outside  his  sur- 
face lines.  Of  course  such  owners  of  adjoining  claims  might 
agree  upon  a  plan  of  joint  development  and  division  of  prof- 
its. We  are  told  that  such  has  been  frequently  done  in  Brit- 
ish Columbia,  which  has  a  similar  law.  But  then  there  will 
be  a  strong  temptation  to  him  in  whose  ground  the  values 
may  be  found,  to  attempt  to  avoid  such  contract,  and  we 
are  advised  that  litigation  has  arisen  even  over  such  agree- 
ments. But  more  often  the  locator  who  has  no  extralateral 
rights  will  attempt  to  hold  the  adjoining  ground  until  such 
time  as  the  dip  of  his  vein  is  determined.  It  will  require 
no  great  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  realize  how  a  claim- 
ant can,  by  fictitious  locations  or  otherwise,  so  involve  and 
complicate  adjoining  property  as  to  prevent  its  bona  fide 
location  and  development.  It  is  true  that  all  this  will  be 
to  the  disadvantage  of  the  first  locator  who  may  feel  com- 
pelled to  resort  to  such  methods,  but  it  will  certainly  be  to 
the  great  disadvantage  of  the  district  for  it  will  retard  de- 
velopment. 

These  and  doubtless  many  other  and  perhaps  more 
weighty  considerations  induced  the  adoption  of  the  apex 
rule.  It  has  the  approval  of  centuries  of  experience.  Lind- 
ley,  in  his  admirable  work  on  Mining  Law,  says: 

(Section  566.)  "The  'dip  right'  of  the  early  miner  was 
the  forerunner  of  the  modern  extralateral  right.  Whether, 
in  framing  their  local  regulations  on  this  subject,  the  pio- 
neers of  the  west  drew  their  inspiration  from  the  traditions 
of  early  German  customs,  which  sanctioned  the  inclined 
location,  received  their  suggestions  from  mining  on  'rake 
veins'  in  Derbyshire,  or  were  induced  to  provide  for  follow- 
ing their  vein  on  its  dip  indefinitely,  on  the  consideration 
that  the  miner  might  obtain  more  that  was  valuable  by  this 
method  than  any  other,  is  not  at  this  late  day  necessary 
to  inquire." 


170  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

The  author  refers  to  the  adoption  of  the  system  under 
the  "early  German  codes  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,"  but  through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  William  Scallon 
of  Butte,  Montana,  I  have  been  privileged  to  read  from  a 
translation  from  the  Fourth  Book  on  Metallurgy  by  Georg 
Agricola,  a  noted  mineralologist  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
who  in  his  discussion  says: 

"If  the  vein  descends  straight  into  the  earth  the  entire 
area  descends  perpendicularly  likewise,  but  if  it  be  sloping 
the  whole  area  will  slope  also  and  the  right  to  the  whole 
extent  of  the  vein  as  far  as  it  sinks  into  the  bowels  of  the 
earth  is  the  property  of  the  owner  forever." 

But  a  specially  strong  argument  for  the  apex  rule  is 
found  in  the  circumstances  of  its  adoption.  What  Judge 
Knowles  in  King  vs.  Edwards  (1  Mont.,  238;  4  Mor.  Min. 
Rep.,  480)  was  pleased  to  term  the  "American  Common  Law 
on  Mining"  is  a  system  developed  by  the  early  miners  and 
prospectors  in  their  local  rules  and  customs.  We  contem- 
plate with  pride  the  great  work  of  those  early  miners,  fur- 
ther removed  in  those  days  from  the  sources  of  supply  and 
centers  of  learning  than  the  interior  of  Africa  is  to-day,  and 
with  practically  no  system  of  government  save  their  own 
roughly  drafted  codes,  yet  maintaining  a  standard  of  recog- 
nized property  rights  and  developing  a  system  of  laws  that 
for  equal  and  exact  justice,  and  adaptation  to  existing  con- 
ditions, is  the  marvel  of  lawgivers  and  wins  the  approval 
of  critics.  A  distinguished  writer  says: 

"They  reflect  the  matured  wisdom  of  the  practical 
miner  of  past  ages,  and  have  their  foundation,  as  has  been 
stated,  in  certain  natural  laws,  easily  applied  to  different 
situations,  and  were  propagated  in  the  California  mines  by 
those  who  had  a  practical  and  traditional  knowledge  of 
them  in  their  varied  form  in  the  countries  of  their  origin, 
and  were  adopted,  and  no  doubt  gradually  improved  and 
judiciously  modified,  by  the  Americans."  (Section  42,  Lind- 
ley,  quoting  J,  Ross  Browne  in  his  Mineral  Resources.") 

The  apex  law  is  a  developed  product  of  those  early 
rules  and  customs,  and  was  recognized  when  quartz  mining 
began  in  California  fifty  years  ago.  It  was  given  legislative 


MINING   LAWS.  171 

sanction  by  Congress  in  the  Act  of  1866  and  again  in  our 
present  lode  law  of  1872.  Millions  of  properties  have  been 
acquired  and  will  always  be  held  under  it.  Can  it  be  said 
that  the  principle  is  wrong,  the  system  unjust,  or  danger- 
ous? Many  of  us  are  not  prepared  to  believe  so.  But  even 
if  it  had  been  the  part  of  the  better  wisdom  to  have  adopted 
the  "plane"  system  of  ownership  in  the  beginning  without 
extralateral  rights,  is  it  well  to  make  the  change  now? 

Eemember  that  a  poor  law  after  it  has  been  interpreted 
and  construed  by  the 'courts  will  often  operate  more  equit- 
ably than  a  better  law  which  is  yet  unsettled  and  whose 
terms  are  in  dispute.  Remember  also  that  any  new  law 
or  amendment  must  pass  the  ordeal  of  the  court  of  last 
resort,  and  that  in  this  case  is  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  which  is  now  three  years  behind  its  calendar. 
A  law  cannot  be  drawn  so  plainly  as  to  leave  no  room  for 
controversy  or  interpretation,  but  even  if  it  could  as  to  its 
own  operation,  we  must  yet  consider  the  enormous  litiga- 
tion which  will  be  necessarily  involved  in  the  adjustment  of 
a  new  system  to  that  already  established.  All  locations 
made  prior  to  such  an  amendment  will  possess  extralateral 
rights.  Hence  one  man,  having  acquired  under  the  present 
law,  may  pursue  his  vein  beneath  his  neighbor's  surface,  but 
that  neighbor,  having  acquired  under  the  proposed  amend- 
ment, can  follow  his  vein  only  to  the  plane  of  his  boundary 
lines.  The  confusion  necessarily  resulting  can  scarcely  be 
imagined,  but  it  can  better  be  imagined  than  described. 

Nor  need  it  be  feared  that  if  the  apex  rule  be  retained 
the  litigation  of  recent  years  will  always  continue.  The 
law  is  now  quite  definitely  settled.  The  miner  can  be  ad- 
vised as  to  his  rights  more  definitely  than  heretofore,  and 
the  experience  of  recent  years  will  enable  prudent  counsel 
to  direct  a  course  which  will  avoid  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
controversies  of  the  past. 

A  Complaint  From  Alaska. 

Those  who  have  been  in  touch  with  placer  mining  con- 
ditions in  the  Nome  region  and  other  portions  of  Alaska 
have  had  occasion  to  complain  bitterly  of  the  abuse  of  the 


172  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

power  of  attorney  privilege.  In  many  cases  entire  creeks 
have  been  located  by  a  few  men  holding  numerous  powers 
of  attorney  from  real  or  fictitious  persons  who  have  never 
seen  the  district."  The  evil  is  exceptionally  glaring  in  the 
Nome  region  where  the  seasons  are  short,  and  one  man  has 
'been  known  to  locate  practically  all  the  valuable  property 
on  a  creek  and  to  hold  it  for  a  whole  season  without  doing 
a  hundred  dollars  worth  of  work.  Under  present  laws, 
another  man  similarly  equipped  and  early  on  the  ground 
could  locate  the  whole  creek  and  hold  it  in  a  similar  man- 
ner for  another  season.  The  evil  demands  immediate  relief, 
but  the  remedy  is  not  so  easily  suggested.  In  some  quar- 
ters a  demand  is  heard  for  legislation  entirely  prohibiting 
the  use  of  powers  of  attorney  in  locating  mineral  land  in 
Alaska.  As  there  is  no  law  at  present  limiting  the  num- 
ber of  claims  which  one  man  may  locate,  it  would  seem  idle 
to  prohibit  the  location  by  power  of  attorney  without  also 
limiting  the  number  of  claims  which  may  be  taken  by  pne 
locator.  Nor  is  it  advisable  to  wholly  prohibit  location  by 
power  of  attorney.  Capital  is  required  in  Alaska,  but  most 
men  who  will  endure  its  hardships  and  risk  the  dangers 
are  men  of  limited  means.  The  law  should  encourage  men 
of  capital  who  are  willing  to  trust  their  investments  there 
to  agents.  Undoubtedly  the  better  plan  would  be  to  limit 
by  law  the  number  of  claims  which  anyone  may  appropriate 
in  a  given  district,  either  in  person  or  by  power  of  attorney, 
and  also  require  certain  exploration  or  development  work 
to  be  performed  upon  each  placer  claim  or  group  within  a 
limited  period,  say  thirty  days  after  location.  This  could 
certainly  be  done  without  injustice  and  would  doubtless 
afford  all  the  relief  desired. 

The  conditions  in  Alaska  are  different  from  those  in 
our  western  states,  and  consequently  some  modification  of 
our  mining  laws  in  their  application  to  Alaska  may  become 
necessary.  At  the  same  time  the  hardy  miners  and  pros- 
pectors of  the  Northland  are  so  widely  scattered  and  far 
removed  from  the  legislative  halls  that  necessary  legisla- 
tion is  frequently  delayed.  A  careful  consideration  of  the 
interests  of  these  fellow  workers  is  certainly  worthy  of  the 
time  of  this  Congress. 


The  Evolution  of  Mining  in  California. 

BY   COLONEL   JOHN    DAGGETT. 

In  behalf  of  California,  which  has  been  my  residence 
for  a  great  many  years,  I  desire  to  send  greetings  to  the 
delegations  upon  this  floor  of  the  Mining  Congress,  and  state 
that  California  is  in  full  accord  with  you,  although  she  has 
not  a  full  representation.    She  feels  very  secure  in  her  posi- 
tion, for  she  thinks  she  originated  the  mining  industry,  and 
in  whatever  has  transpired  since  gold  was  discovered  in 
California  she  has  had  and  still  has  a  lively  interest.    Cal- 
ifornia, as  you  know,  for  it  is  history,  has  done  the  world  a 
service  in  many  respects;  not  only  in  having  produced  a 
large  amount  of  gold,  silver  and  other  metals  at  a  period  in 
the  world's  history  when  it  performed  a  vast  amount  of 
good,  but  she  has  also  rendered  the  whole  world  cosmopoli- 
tan.   People  living  in  a  provincial  way  in  an  early  day,  met 
from  all  parts  of  the  world  in  California;  they  found  that 
each  locality  had  its  provincialisms,  individuals  were  differ- 
ent from  each  other;  but  they  became  harmonized.    The  dif- 
ferent states  of  the  Union,  not  knowing  one  another  to  any 
great  extent,  had  jealousies  and  feelings  which  were  erad- 
icated when  they  met  each  other  and  found  that  they  were 
not  so  far  apart  after  all.    I  remember  a  very  amusing  in- 
stance that  occurred  in  an  early  day  in  California.     I  had 
some  very  pleasant  relations  with  a  young  man  from  Mis- 
souri; he  seemed  to  think  a  great  deal  of  rne,  and  I  really 
thought  he  was  a. very  nice  young  man.    He  said  to  me:    "I 
don't  take  any  stock  in  this  feeling  of  jealousy  that  exists 
between  the  people  of  the  East  and  the  people  of  the  West. 
I  find  a  great  many  things  in  which  one  is  superior  to  the 
other,  but  they  sum  up  about  the  same.    For  instance,  I  am 
willing  to  admit  that  New  York — that  is  my  native  state- 
has  smarter  pickpockets  than  they  have  out  in  Missouri; 
but  when  it  comes  to  horse  stealing,  they  are  not  in  it  a 
minute  with  the  Missourians."     Now,  he  was  all  right,  he 
was  honest,  except  in  his  standard;  he  didn't  select  the 
proper  standard;  but  if  he  had  lived  until  the  present  day, 


174  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

and  had  witnessed  the  operations  of  J.  Pierpont  Morgan, 
Schwab  and  Rockefeller,  he  would  think  the  boodlers  of  St. 
Louis  were  cutting  a  very  sorry  figure. 

I  desire  to  take  a  little  of  your  time  to  recount  some 
matters  of  history.  I  witnessed  the  evolution  of  mining.  I 
came  to  California  in  1852,  when  the  medium  by  means  of 
which  gold  was  extracted  was  the  pan,  the  rocker  and  the 
long  torn.  Nobody  throughout  the  United  States,  except  a 
few  men  in  North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  knew  anything 
about  the  nature  of  gold  or  its  manner  of  extraction.  The 
great  tide  of  western  immigration  brought  with  it  a  large 
number  of  practical  men,  who  devoted  their  brains  as  well 
as  their  brawn  and  muscle  to  exploiting  the  gold  fields  of 
California;  and  to  the  efforts  of  those  gentlemen  we  owe 
nearly  all  of  the  improvements  that  have  been  made  in  the 
process  of  extraction  of  the  precious  metals.  It  was  the 
observation  of  individuals  who  had  perhaps  never  per- 
formed a  day's  work  before,  that  in  adding  a  sluiceway  to 
the  long  torn,  the  gold  would  settle  in  the  sluice;  and  thus 
putting  another  sluice  on  they  originated  the  system  of 
sluicing,  which  liberated  the  man  who  shoveled  dirt  on  the 
screen,  and  set  him  to  shoveling  in,  and  gaining  the  labor 
of  one  more  man.  That  was  in  the  line  of  economy. 

Another  individual,  by  directing  the  force  of  the  stream 
of  water  he  was  using  against  the  bank,  discovered  the  hy- 
draulic system,  which  revolutionized  mining,  and  made  it 
possible  to  extract  gold  from  banks  which  were  non-paying 
if  the  earth  had  to  be  shoveled  into  the  sluice. 

Another  invented  the  system  of  hydraulic  elevation, 
thus  enabling  ground  otherwise  unprofitable  to  be  worked 
at  a  profit.  Whether  we  owe  the  dredger  system,  which  is 
in  great  vogue  to-day,  to  California  or  not  I  cannot  say;  but 
it  is  in  use  very  largely. 

We  found  upon  using  the  old  square  stamp,  which  you 
will  find  illustrated  in  your  mining  dictionary,  and  which 
was  in  use  to  my  certain  knowledge  and  observation  up  to 
1860,  in  Grass  Valley,  which  was  then  deemed  to  have  the 
best  means  of  gold  extraction,  that  when  they  put  the 
.quartz  into  the  front  part  of  the  battery  it  wore  off  the  front 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  MINING  IN  CALIFORNIA.  175 

part  of  the  shoe;  they  turned  it  around  and  it  wore  off  the 
back  part  of  the  shoe,  after  which  it  did  no  service.  Hence 
the  revolving  stamp  was  evolved  by  Mr.  P.  M.  Chandler,  a 
Californian,  a  pattern-maker  of  Marysville.  Up  to  that  time 
there  wasn't  a  revolving  stamp  within  the  whole  area  of 
Grass  Valley,  which  had  produced  millions  of  dollars  worth 
of  gold. 

The  late  Mr.  O.  W.  Lightner,  formerly  head  manager 
and  draftsman  for  the  Vulcan  Iron  Works  of  San  Francis- 
co, has  related  to  me  on  many  occasions  that  he  made  the 
first  draft  of  the  involute  cam.  You  are  all  no  doubt  aware 
that  in  the  old  system  there  was  what  is  called  a  "wiper" 
that  struck  the  cam  in  this  manner  (illustrating),  where- 
upon a  severe  shock  ensued.  The  involute  cam  commenced 
raising  it  until  it  got  it  under  motion,  and  thus  enabled 
them  to  drop  a  hundred  or  more  stamps  in  a  minute. 

Some  person,  certainly  in  California,  invented  the 
screen  which  enabled  the  miner  to  work  with  economy  in. 
a  great  many  ways,  for  the  reason  that  before  we  had  what 
was  called  the  "float-battery/'  whatever  went  over  the  top- 
went  off. 

I  recollect  in  1864,  when  I  was  in  Nevada,  I  saw  for  the 
first  time  what  was  known  as  a  "finger"  in  use,  by  means  of 
which  a  man  inserted  a  wiper  between  the  cam  and  the  tap- 
pet and  raised  it  up,  thus  lifting  the  stamp.  Previous  to 
that  time  we  had  to  stop  an  entire  battery,  and  lift  it  up 
by  block  and  tackle,  in  order  to  arrange  a  shoe.  And,  what 
may  seem  very  strange  to  you,  I  saw  in  1862,  in  Grass  Val- 
ley, three  poles  near  a  stamp,  and  they  had  to  take  the 
stamp  clear  out  of  the  battery  and  string  it  up  amidship  to 
put  a  shoe  on.  All  these  things,  so  strange  to  you  now,  have 
been  eliminated  in  the  quartz  mining  industry,  and  they 
have  all  been  in  the  line  of  economy;  and  we  owe  it  all  to 
the  engineers  and  practical  men  of  California. 

The  great  system  of  pan-amalgamation  in  the  Comstock 
is  due  to  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Varney  to  work  the  auriferous 
sulphur  in  the  pan.  They  tried  the  Patio  process,  but  it 
was  a  failure  in  the  Comstock,  and  many  of  the  silver  mines 
since  could  never  have  been  worked  except  for  the  pan  proc- 


176  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

ess.  I  recollect  in  1864,  at  the  Hale  and  Norcross  mine  in 
Virginia  City,  to  have  witnessed  the  operation  of  a  machine 
to  frame  square  sets  of  timbers  which  they  were  then  insti- 
tuting. That  was  a  California  engineer,  Hale,  of  the  Hale 
<&  Norcross  mine.  You  all  remember  that  the  square-set- 
ting of  the  Comstock  revolutionized  mining,  and  that  for  a 
number  of  years  Gardner  Williams,  a  California  boy,  has 
been  working  the  Kimberly  diamond  fields,  which  could  not 
have  been  worked  except  for  the  square-setting  system. 

I  want  to  say  further,  that  the  Patio  process  for  chlori- 
nation  was  a  matter  of  theory  until  George  F.  Deetkin,  who 
was  a  common  civil  engineer,  who.  had  worked  for  the 
Watts  &  Eureka  mine  in  Grass  Valley,  made  an  adaptation 
of  it,  by  which  means  they  produced  their  sulphurets. 
When  I  was  there  in  1862  they  were  shipping  their  sulphur- 
ets to  Swansea,  and  had  lost,  as  Mr.  Watts  stated  to  me, 
thousands  of  dollars  by  reason  of  not  treating  them. 

Subsequent  to  that  comes  the  cyanide  process,  with 
which  you  are  all  familiar,  and  about  which  I  know  nothing 
except  that  it  is  in  due  process  of  evolution,  and  along  with 
all  these  improvements,  in  the  line  of  economy,  enabling 
the  gold  producing  industry  to  work  properties  that  other- 
wise could  not  be  worked. 

-  I  have  been  deputed  by  Mr.  Charles  G.  Gale,  statistician 
of  the  mint,  and  connected  with  the  Mining  Bureau,  to  read 
a  paper  which  by  direction  of  Governor  Pardee  was  pre- 
pared for  the  Mining  Bureau,  relative  to  California,  and  it 
will  speak  for  itself. 


The  Mining  Industries  of  California. 

BY  THE    STATE   MINING  BUREAU. 

Those  who  may  recall  the  fact  that  mining  has  been 
carried  on  in  California  since  "the  days  of  ?49,"  and  that  it 
is  the  oldest  of  the  mining  states  west  of  the  Missouri  river, 
may  be  under  the  impression  that  the  mining  industry  is  in 
a  condition  of  decadence,  owing  to  the  gradual  working  out 
of  the  principal  deposits.  It  may  be  confessed  that  a  gen- 
eral idea  of  this  sort  prevails  to  a  certain  extent  among 
those  who  have  not  taken  the  trouble  to  investigate  the  sub- 
ject, or  inform  themselves  of  present  conditions.  As  a  gen- 
eral proposition  mining  men  are  naturally  more  interested 
in  their  own  districts  and  states,  than  in  those  of  others, 
for  which  reason  they  are  not  apt  to  study  up  details  of 
progress  in  other  communities  than  their  own,  unless  there 
is  special  occasion  for  it. 

It  may  be  a  matter  of  surprise,  therefore,  to  many,  to 
learn  that  the  value  of  all  the  mineral  products  in  California 
last  year  was  $37,759,040,  an  increase  over  1902  of  f  2,689,- 
935.  And  it  may  be  a  still  further  surprise  to  know  that  for 
the  last  eleven  years,  since  1893,  the  increase  in  value  of 
the  mineral  output  has  been  about  two  million  dollars  each 
successive  year,  and  the  last  year  over  two  and  a  half  mil- 
lions. From  this  brief  statement,  based  on  the  official  fig- 
ures of  the  state  mineralogist,  it  will  be  noted  that  instead 
of  being  in  a  state  of  decadence,  the  mining  industry  of  Cal- 
ifornia is  rapidly  progressing  in  importance  and  value,  and 
being  established  on  a  firm  and  permanent  basis,  is  in  first 
class  condition.  California  from  a  mining  point  of  view, 
instead  of  being  decrepit  with  age,  is  still  in  its  vigorous 
youth,  and  attaining  greater  strength  as  the  years  pass  on. 

California  has  well  earned  its  title  of  the  "Golden 
State"  and  the  fame  of  its  gold  fields  is  world-wide.  It  is 
still  best  known  in  connection  with  this  product.,  As  a  gold 
bearing  region  California  has,  among  other  mining  states 
of  the  Union,  the  distinction  of  holding  the  record  in  sev- 


178  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

eral  particulars.  It  has  made  by  far.  the  largest  aggre- 
gate product;  made  the  largest  output  in  any  single  year; 
made  the  highest  annual  average  yield  though  its  mines 
have  been  worked  over  half  a  century;  kept  the  lead  as  a 
gold  producer  the  greatest  consecutive  number  of  years; 
pursues  the  largest  number  of  varied  branches  of  gold  min- 
ing; and  has  the  widest  geographical  distribution  of  its  gold 
deposits. 

In  support  of  these  statements  it  may  be  noted  that 
the  gold  output  of  the  state  since  gold  mining  commenced 
at  the  end  of  1848  has  been  to  the  end  of  1893,  according  to 
official  figures,  $1,395,377,212. 

The  highest  gold  output  in  any  single  year  was  $81,- 
294,700  in  1852.  For  five  years  subsequent  it  was  never 
less  than  $50,000,000.  Until  1872,  fifteen  years  later,  it  was 
never  less  than  $17,000,000  per  annum.  In  1903  it  was 
about  sixteen  and  a  half  millions  and  the  present  annual 
average  is  between  sixteen  and  seventeen  million  dollars. 

The  yearly  average  gold  output  for  fifty-five  years,  from 
1849  to  1903  inclusive,  has  been  $25,377,212. 

From  1848  to  1896  inclusive  California  produced  each 
year  more  gold  than  any  state  in  the  Union  until  in  1897 
the  Cripple  Creek  mines  of  Colorado  gave  that  state  the 
lead,  California  then  taking  second  place  in  the  output  of 
that  metal,  a  position  it  still  maintains.  It  therefore  kept 
the  lead  for  forty-nine  consecutive  years. 

The  branches  of  gold  mining  are:  quartz,  including 
seam  and  pocket;  hydraulic; drift;  dredging;  surface  placer, 
including  river  bed  and  bar,  wing-damming,  bench,  ground 
sluice,  dry  washing,  ocean-beach  sand  mining,  submarine 
diving,  and  the  forms  where  the  pan,  rocker,  torn  and  sluice 
are  used. 

As  to  distribution  of  the  gold  deposits,  aside  from  their 
forms,  it  may  be  said  that  California  stretches  through  nine 
and  one-half  degrees  of  latitude  and  between  the  extreme 
northwest  and  southeast  corners,  the  direct  distance  is  775 
miles,  while  the  width  is  from  148  to  235  miles,  the  total 
area  being  156,931  square  miles.  The  great  range  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada  runs  through  nearly  the  entire  length  of  the 


THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES   OP  CALIFORNIA.  179 

state,  on  the  eastern  border,  and  the  belt  of  coast  ranges 
border  the  sea  coast  on  the  west.  Along  the  Sierra  Nevada 
range  and  its  foothills,  and  the  northwestern  coast  range, 
and  the  southeastern  desert  region  in  the  tier  of  counties 
extending  from  one  end  of  the  state  to  the  other,  there  is 
not  a  single  one  without  its  gold  deposits  in  one  form  or 
another.  There  is  gold  on  the  ocean  beaches  of  the  Coast 
line,  the  mountain  ranges,  the  foothills,  the  valleys.  Even 
the  sandy  wastes  of  the  Mohave  and  Colorado  deserts  have 
many  productive  gold  mines.  In  Inyo  county  there  are  gold 
mines  being  worked  at  elevations  of  9,000,  11,000,  13,000 
and  13,500  feet,  and  in  the  same  county,  gold  is  being  taken 
out  at  places  over  200  feet  below  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  is 
thus  seen  that  the  gold  deposits  of  California  extend  over 
a  longitudinal  area  of  775  miles,  a  lateral  area  of  an  aver- 
age of  191  miles  (or  extreme  width  of  235  miles)  and  a  ver- 
tical range  of  13,700  feet. 

In  giving  some  brief  consideration  to  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  mining  industry  in  California,  as  compared 
with  its  past,  it  may  be  said  that  the  pioneers  were  all 
placer  miners,  and  the  pick,  shovel,  pan,  rocker,  sluice  and 
long  torn  comprised  their  appliances;  the  gulches,  ravines, 
river  beds  and  bars  the  source  of  their  gold.  No  capital  was 
required  and  no  extensive  companies  needed.  Little  or  no 
development  wrork  had  to  be  done  as  the  claim  paid  or  did 
not  after  brief  work.  Those  were  the  days  of  individual 
miners  or  unorganized  companies  of  partners.  Yet  even 
under  those  simple  conditions  they  took  out  from  ten  to 
eighty  millions  a  year  in  the  first  four  years.  The  deep 
gravels,  in  the  now  famous  ancient  river  bed  channels  were 
unknown,  and  quartz  was  thought  -little  of.  Gradually, 
however,  as  might  have  been  expected,  the  available  area 
of  this  kind  of  mining,  was  narrowed  as  the  ground  was 
worked  out,  and  attention  had  to  be  turned  to  other  sources 
of  gold  supply.  This  lead  to  the  discovery  of  the  ancient 
channels,  buried  beneath  the  lava-capped  divides,  subse- 
quently worked  by  drift  mining;  and  those  with  no  lava 
capping,  by  the  hydraulic  process,  the  cheapest  operated 
of  all  forms  of  gold  mining  and  having  its  origin  in  Cali- 


180  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

fornia.    Attention,  too,  was  turned  to  quartz,  as  the  original 
source  of  all  this  surface  gold. 

With  the  exhaustion  of  the  open  surface  gold  deposits 
the  day  of  the  individual  miner  practically  came  to  an  end 
in  California.  Then  both  the  character  of  the  mining  and 
of  the  mining  population  changed.  It  was  no  longer  pos- 
sible for  the  nomadic  miner,  with  a  few  simple  tools  to 
gather  a  fortune  in  a  few  days  from  a  deposit  which  nature 
had  concentrated  for  him  in  a  few  yards  of  earth  or  gravel. 
It  became  necessary  to  employ  both  capital  and  labor  to 
carry  on  gold  mining  under  the  changed  conditions.  Ditches 
and  reservoirs  had  to  be  built  for  water  supply  for  hydrau- 
lic mines;  long  tunnels  run  to  tap  the  buried  channels  under 
the  divides;  and  shafts  had  to  be  sunk  and  mills,  pumps, 
hoists  and  other  machinery  provided  before  profit  could  be 
made  from  the  quartz  mines. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  great  body  of  the  miners  stopped 
working  on  their  own  account,  and  were  employed  for  daily 
wages  by  the  companies  which  were  organized  to  conduct 
the  operations  requiring  investment  of  capital.  The  miners 
gave  up  their  nomadic  instincts,  became  permanent  resi- 
dents of  the  camps  or  mining  towns,  taking  steady  employ- 
ment in  mines  and  mills,  and  this  condition  continues 
to-day.  Of  course  there  are  still  many  prospectors  through- 
out the  mining  regions,  as  well  as  miners  who  work  their 
own  "prospects/'  but  the  majority  of  the  mining  population 
is  now  engaged  in  work  for  the  companies.  This  has  re- 
sulted in  the  building  up  of  thriving  permanent  towns  in  all 
centers  of  extensive  mining  operations  throughout  the 
states.  And  many  of  these  towns  have  all  the  appliances 
of  modern  civilization,  with  conveniences  of  transportation, 
far  different  from  the  temporary  mining  camp  of  the  early 
days. 

The  era  of  speculative  mining  incidental  to  newly  set- 
tled mining  regions  has  long  since  passed  by  in  California, 
and  the  business  is,  in  these  days,  conducted  in  as  legitimate 
a  manner  as  farming,  manufacturing,  etc.,  profits  being 
sought  from  the  product  in  the  mines  themselves,  and  not 
from  fictitious  and  evanescent  "stock"  values.  It  is  worthy 


THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES   OF  CALIFORNIA.  181 

of  note,  in  this  connection,  that  famous  as  San  Francisco  is 
for  its  mining  stock  speculations,  the  brokers  have  never 
been  able  to  induce  the  gold  miners  of  California  to  put  the 
stock  of  their  mines  on  the  open  market;  and  that  to-day 
in  the  stock  exchange  no  California  gold  mines  are  "listed" 
or  publicly  d,ealt  in  at  the  boards.  The  judgment  which 
justifies  this  action,  is  the  result  of  the  experience  of  the 
far  reaching  detrimental  features  of  this  kind  of  specula- 
tion in  the  shares  of  the  famous  Comstock  mines  of  Nevada; 
an  experience  yet  to  be  learned  in  younger  gold  mining- 
states  than  California.  Pew  mining  companies  of  any 
standing  in  the  state  allow  their  shares  to  be  peddled  indis- 
criminately, with  constantly  changing  values  brought  about 
by  interested  speculators,  rather  than  the  merits  of  the 
mining  property  itself. 

In  the  earlier  history  of  gold  mining  in  California,  and 
especially  in  quartz  many  foolish  and  extravagant  ideas 
prevailed,  and  numerous  costly  mistakes  were  made,  and  it 
came  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  risky  business.  But  ultimately 
it  was  found  that  the  fault  was  more  in  the  men  them- 
selves than  in  the  mines.  This  is  proven  by  the  fact  that 
hundreds  of  mines,  after  costly  experiment  were  abandoned 
for  years,  but  have  since  been  reopened  and  worked  on  a 
profitable  basis  by  those  who  have  been  guided  by  experi- 
ence and  better  knowledge.  A  radical  change  in  methods 
was  necessary  to  bring  about  this  favorable  turn  of  affairs. 
High  priced  officials  have  been  dispensed  with,  office  force 
and  expenses  reduced,  and  only  skilled  men  employed  in 
the  different  departments.  More  railroads,  better  wagon 
roads,  cheaper  supplies  and  wages,  improved  means  of  trans- 
portation, better  machinery  at  lower  cost,  highly  improved 
reduction  appliances  and  methods,  adoption  of  chlorination 
and  cyanide  processes,  use  of  concentrators  and  canvas 
plants,  careful  saving  of  sulphurets,  stronger  powder,  power 
drills,  electric  and  water  power,  heavier  and  larger  milling- 
plants,  more  extensive  development  and  generally  improved 
systems  and  appliances,  have  all  contributed  toward  a 
change  for  the  better. 

The  milling  of  gold  ores  particularly  has  been  greatly 


182  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

perfected  of  late  years,  and  it  is  now  possible  to  make 
quartz  mines  pay  which  were  practically  valueless  twenty 
years  ago,  as  very  low  grade  ores  may  now  be  worked.  The 
tendency  among  investors  is  in  the  direction  of  getting  prop- 
erties with  large  bodies  of  low  grade  ore,  conditions  which 
exist  to  perfection  in  the  mother  lode  counties  of  the  state. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  stated  that  as  the  fame 
of  quartz  mines  on  the  mother  lode  of  California  is  so  wide, 
many  persons  imagine  the  entire  quartz  mining  interests  of 
the  state  are  in  that  locality,  and  that  there  is  little  outside 
of  it.  This  is  not,  however,  by  any  means  the  case.  Last  year 
there  was  a  production  of  gold  in  thirty-four  counties  of  the 
state  and  the  mother  lode  only  traverses  five  of  them.  The 
largest  gold  producing  county  is  not  on  the  mother  lode  at 
all.  The  only  county  which  produced  over  two  million  dol- 
lars last  year,  mainly  from  quartz,  is  not  on  the  mother 
lode.  Of  the  six  counties  which  produced  over  a  million 
in  gold  last  year,  three  are  on  the  mother  lode  and  three 
are  not.  The  largest  producer  in  the  state  is,  however,  on 
the  mother  lode.  The  most  extensive  developments,  and 
largest  and  best  equipped  quartz  mines  are  on  the  mother 
lode,  a  section  where  investments  must  be  large  for  success 
to  be  attained.  But  there  are  plenty  of  productive  quartz 
mines  outside  the  mother  lode  counties  of  El  Dorado,  Ama- 
dor,  Calaveras,  Tuolumne  and  Mariposa.  The  county  of 
Nevada,  which  has  maintained  the  lead  in  gold  production 
for  many  years  is  not  a  mother  lode  county. 

The  mines  on  that  lode  do  not  uniformly  carry  low 
grade  ore,  as  much  high  grade  work  is  found;  but  the  ore 
bodies  are  so  large  that  averages  are  reduced.  It  seems 
anomalous,  however,  that  while  large  bodies  of  low  grade 
ore  are  almost  invariably  sought  by  investors  of  large  cap- 
ital, the  county  which  has  always  produced  the  most  gold 
from  quartz,  has,  generally  speaking,  much  smaller  ledges 
than  mother  lode  mines,  and  with  higher  average  values  of 
the  ores. 

It  is  impossible  within  the  scope  assigned  to  a  paper  of 
this  character  to  go  into  details  of  methods  of  operation, 
costs,  profits,  etc.,  refer  to  individual  properties,  or  do  more 


THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES  OF  CALIFORNIA.  183 

than  give  a  very  general  idea  of  the  prevailing  conditions. 
It  may  be  said,  however,  with  well  equipped  quartz  mines 
having  modern  reduction  works,  that  $2.50  per  ton  will  gen- 
erally cover  the  costs  of  both  mining  and  milling  in  Cali- 
fornia. Many  large  mines  are  operating  profitably  on  $4 
rock,  and  even  that  of  less  value. 

One  marked  instance  of  very  cheap  work  may  be  cited, 
of  a  mine  in  a  mother  lode  county,  to  prove  possibilities  of 
low  cost  where  the  conditions  are  perfect.  This  is  the  Koyal 
Consolidated  Mines  Company,  at  Hodson,  Calaveras  county, 
Mr.  J.  C.  Kemp  Van  Ee,  general  manager.  With  a  carefully 
designed  and  operated  120  stamp  mill  and  usual  appliances, 
new  and  modern  in  every  respect,  they  crush  800  tons  of  ore 
daily,  or  6.67  tons  to  the  stamp — a  very  high  average.  The 
entire  cost  of  both  milling  and  mining  is  46  cents  per  ton. 
This  is  the  world's  record  in  quartz  mining  and  milling, 
being  lower  than  the  cost  at  the  famous  mines  in  Douglas 
Island,  Alaska,  with  their  hundreds  of  stamps.  Electric 
power  is  used  for  the  entire  plant,  and  is  purchased  from  a 
power  company. 

Another  quartz  mine,  the  Spanish,  Washington  town- 
ship, Nevada  county,  was  worked  for  a  number  of  years  at 
remarkably  low  cost  until  it  became  necessary  to  hoist  and 
pump,  when  it  would  no  longer  pay.  The  total  value  of 
the  ore  was  only  from  85  cents  to  $1.25  per  ton  in  gold,  and 
the  cost  of  mining  was  25  cents  and  of  milling  25  cents.  The 
milling  w^as  done  with  crushers  and  Huntington  roller  mills, 
and  over  4,000  tons  a  month  were  crushed  on  an  average. 
The  wages  were:  foreman,  $3'.50  per  day;  white  miners,  $3; 
and  Chinese,  $1.50  per  day.  Water  power  cost  15  cents  per 
inch.  The  mine  was  worked  through  two  tunnels  and  by 
open  cut. 

Aside  from  the  gradual  improvement  in  the  appliances 
and  processes  of  quartz  mining  the  most  notable  features 
in  recent  years  have  been  the  tendency  toward  more  exten- 
sive underground  development,  deeper  workings  and  the  in- 
crease in  capacity  of  the  plants.  Very  much  deeper  and 
larger  shafts  are  sunk  than  was  formerly  the  custom  and 
the  equipment  is  in  proportion.  In  reopening  an  old  or 


184  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

previously  abandoned  mine,  of  which  there  are  many  in- 
stances, they  now  sink  a  shaft  from  1,000  to  2,000  feet  deep 
directly,  without  stopping  to  run  levels,  until  a  sump  is 
made.  In  a  large  productive  mine  in  Amador  county,  they 
recently  finished  a  new  three  compartment  shaft  to  take  the 
place  of  an  old  one  a  mile  or  more  distant,  to  work  the  ore 
body  at  a  depth  of  3,300  feet,  and  this  new  shaft  is  equipped 
with  a  hoisting  plant  designed  to  hoist  ore  from  5,000  feet, 
which  point  they  expect  to  attain  in  due  time.  Incidentally 
it  may  be  stated  that  the  ore  body  in  the  ledge  at  the  depth 
of  3,300  feet  is  as  rich  as  any  ever  found  on  any  of  the  up- 
per levels,  and  at  some  points  even  richer.  And  this  is  a 
mine  which  has  paid  several  millions  to  its  owners.  The 
mill,  placed  at  the  new  shaft,  has  100  stamps. 

Where  they  formerly  thought  a  ten  stamp  mill  large 
enough  when  putting  up  a  new  plant,  one  of  forty  stamps  is 
now  installed.  There  are  numbers  of  mills  of  100  stamps 
in  operation  in  the  state  and  several  of  120  and  140,  and  the 
tendency  is  to  still  further  increase  crushing  capacity,  espe- 
cially in  the  mines  carrying  low  gra<Je  ore. 

The  quartz  mines  still  continue  to  produce  the  largest 
proportion  of  the  gold  from  the  mines  of  the  state.  Out 
of  $16,988,708  gold  and  silver  produced  in  California  in 
1903,  the  quartz  mines  yielded  f  13,032,153,  and  the  gravel 
mining  operations — drift,  hydraulic  surface  placers  and 
dredges — $3,956,555.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  howT  pre-eminent 
is  the  quartz  mining  branch  of  the  industry,  as  it  yields 
76.71  per  cent,  of  the  total  product  for  the  year. 

The  relative  standing  of  the  various  branches  of  gold 
mining  (including  silver  output)  for  1903  was  as  follows: 

Quartz     13,032,153  or  76.71% 

Hydraulic    1,102,043  "  6.49  % 

Drift    586,952  "  3.46% 

(  Surface  placer 760,021  "  4.47% 

I  Dredging    1,507,539  "  8.87% 


16,988,708  100.00% 

The  auriferous  gravels  taken  as  a  whole,  are  now  not 
nearly  as  productive,  relatively,  as  was  formerly  the  case, 
this  being  mainly  due  to  the  restrictions  placed  by  the  laws 
on  the  hydraulic  mining  branch.  At  one  time,  some  twenty- 


THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES   OF  CALIFORNIA.  185 

five  years  ago,  the  hydraulic  mines  were  estimated  to  be 
yielding  about  ten  million  dollars  annually,  though  it  is 
somewhat  doubtful  if  the  output  ever  reached  that  figure. 
In  1903  the  yield  from  this  source  was  $1,102,043  and  about 
half  of  that  came  from  mines  in  the  northwestern  counties 
where  there  are  no  restrictions  on  hydraulic  operations. 

It  is  proper  to  note  that  while  a  general  impression  pre- 
vails that  hydraulic  mining  is  prohibited  by  law  in  Califor- 
nia, such  is  not  the  case.  But  there  are  certain  restrictions 
upon  it,  in  certain  parts  of  the  state  only,  which  have  proved 
detrimental  to  extensive  operations  such  as  were  formerly 
carried  out.  The  civil  code  of  the  state  of  California  con- 
tains the  following  section:  "The  business  of  hydraulic 
mining  may  be  carried  on  within  the  state  of  California, 
wherever  and  whenever  the  same  can  be  carried  on  without 
material  injury  to  the  navigable  streams,  or  the  lands  adja- 
cent thereto."  The  legal  definition  in  the  code  is:  "Hy- 
draulic mining  is  mining  by  means  of  the  application  of 
water,  under  pressure,  through  a  nozzle,  against  a  natural 
bank." 

The  hydraulic  mines  are  therefore  only  prohibited  from 
working  where  the  debris  or  tailings  from  their  operations 
enter  the  streams  and  injure  their  navigability,  or  damage 
the  farming  and  orchard  lands  along  the  banks.  Where 
no  such  damage  or  injury  is  done,  the  mines  continue  to 
work.  In  the  northwestern  counties  such  as  Siskiyou, 
Trinity,  Humboldt  and  Del  Norte,  where  the  drainage  of 
the  streams  of  the  region  is  into  the  Klamath  river — a 
stream  naturally — and  pronounced  officially  non-navigable, 
there  are  no  restrictions  whatever  and  mines  may  be  worked 
on  as  large  a-scale  as  desired,  the  tailings  doing  no  material 
injury  and  eventually  being  swept  into  the  ocean  by  the 
spring  freshets. 

But  in  the  drainage  basins  of  the  Sacramento  and  San 
Joaquin  rivers,  where  the  largest  hydraulic  operations  were 
formerly  carried  on,  Congress,  by  special  act,  has  prohibited 
and  declared  unlawful  any  hydraulic  mining  directly  or  in- 
directly injuring  the  navigability  of  said  river  systems.  The 
same  act,  however,  provides  means  by  which  hydraulic  min- 


186  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

ing  may  be  carried  on  in  that  region,  and  establishes  a  com- 
mission composed  of  three  officers  of  the  Engineer  Corps, 
U.  S.  A.,  called  the  "California  Debris  Commission/-  to  pre- 
scribe the  methods  of  procedure  by  which  the  miners  may 
lawfully  carry  on  operations. 

The  essential  features  of  this  federal  law  are  that  all 
such  mines,  operated  under  this  system,  in  the  region  re- 
ferred to,  shall  impound  or  restrain  their  debris  or  tailings 
from  entering  the  navigable  streams  or  injuring  the  lands 
of  other  parties.  The  California  Debris  Commission  is  em- 
powered to  issue  licenses  for  hydraulic  mining  under  this 
act,  when  it  is  satisfied  that  the  debris  dams  or  other  im- 
pounding works  are  sufficient  to  restrain  the  debris.  The 
man  who  desires  to  hydraulic  must  make  application  to  the 
commission  for  a  license,  and  submit  his  plans  of  the  pro- 
posed restraining  works,  which  are  subject  to  approval  or 
rejection  by  the  commission.  Each  separate  application  is 
advertised  for  a  specified  time  and  a  public  hearing  is  held 
on  a  given  date,  at  which  those  who  may  be  opposed  to  the 
issuance  of  a  license  may  state  their  reason.  When  the 
plans  are  approved,  and  the  necessary  works  constructed, 
an  official  of  the  commission  makes  a  personal  examination, 
and  if  satisfied  the  debris  can  be  properly  restrained,  the 
license  is  issued  and  the  mine  may  be  operated.  But  if  the 
commission  is  not  satisfied,  for  any  reason,  no  license  is 
granted,  and  the  mine  can  not  be  legally  worked.  Even 
after  the  license  is  granted,  if  the  debris,  or  water  carrying 
too  much  of  it,  is,  permitted  to  escape  the  impounding  sys- 
tem, the  license  is  revoked. 

The  miners  therefore  must  bear  the  expense  of  the  re- 
straining works  of  their  respective  mines.  For  this  reason 
hundreds  of  mines,  especially  smaller  ones,  have  never  been 
started  up  since  the  enactment  of  the  laws,  the  owners  being 
unable  to  bear  the  expense  of  the  dams,  etc.  Moreover, 
many,  even  extensive  ones,  are  so  situated  that  there  is  no 
suitable  canyon  or  depression  near  by  where  impounding 
basins  may  be  formed  for  the  debris.  Some  of  the  mines 
remaining  closed  are  two  hundred  or  more  miles  from  the 
nearest  navigable  river.  Yet  as  their  tailings  would  go  into 


THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES  OF  CALIFORNIA.  187 

some  mountain  stream  or  canyon,  it  is  considered  that  even- 
tually, in  due  course  of  time,  the  debris  would  reach  such 
a  navigable  river.  For  this  reason  they  must  have  impound- 
ing works  just  as  if  close  by  the  river. 

For  these  reasons,  it  may  readily  be  seen  that  hydraulic 
mining  is  not  nearly  so  extensive  a  business  as  formerly  hi 
California.  The  debris  must  be  run  into  basins  behind  the 
dams  and  allowed  to  settle,  so  that  the  waste  water  will 
not  be  too  muddy,  or  carry  too  much  material.  This  system 
naturally  restricts  the  amount  of  gravel  which  may  be 
washed,  and  causes  more  expense  of  operation. 

At  one  time,  when  the  hydraulic  mines  were  operated 
in  a  very  large  scale  over  $100,000,000  was  invested  in  them, 
including  the  ditches,  reservoir  system,  pipe  lines,  etc.  The 
extent  of  their  operations,  however,  proved  their  undoing. 
The  debris,  being  allowed  to  go  where  it  would  freely,  de- 
posited in  vast  quantities,  injured  and  shoaled  the  streams, 
and  covered  up  many  acres  in  the  low  lands  where  farming 
operations  were  carried  on.  Its  presence  cause  disastrous 
overflows  and  finally  in  a  test  suit  brought  by  farmers,  the 
miners  were  defeated,  and  injunctions  against  doing  dam- 
age by  the  process  were  issued  in  such  numbers,  as  to  stop 
operations  almost  entirely  in  the  central  and  northeastern 
portion  of  the  state.  It  was  only  after  the  pasage  of  the  so- 
called  Caminetti  law,  that  the  industry  became  partly  re- 
suscitated. These  mines  were  at  one  time  noted  the  world 
over  for  the  extensive  plants  connected  with  them,  and  were 
of  special  interest  to  engineers  in  view  of  the  large  dams 
and  reservoirs  required,  the  long  pipe  lines,  immense  quan- 
tities of  water  under  enormous  pressure,  and  vast  quantity 
of  material  mined  under  the  system.  To  all  miners  the  sys- 
tem is  of  great  interest  since  it  is  the  cheapest  of  all  gold 
mining  methods.  The  cost  is  only  from  one  and  a  half  to 
eight  cents  per  ton  of  material  treated,  according  to  condi- 
tions. It  was  a  California  invention  born  of  the  necessities 
of  handling  large  quantities  of  gravel  in  brief  space  of  time, 
in  order  to  make  a  profit. 

Several  of  the  larger  hydraulic  mines  began  "drifting" 
the  lower  portion  of  their  gravel,  when  they  could  no  longer 


188  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN    MINING   CONGRESS. 

hydraulic  the  whole  bank  away.  By  this  system  they  re- 
move only  the  richer  gravel  nearest  the  bedrock  and  wash 
it  on  floors  and  through  sluices  or  if  "cemented"  crush  it 
in  stamp  mills.  The  system  of  "dead  rivers"  underlying  the 
lava-capped  "divides"  in  some  of  the  counties  of  California, 
notably  in  Placer,  Sierra  and  Plumas  counties,  has  been  fre- 
quently described,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  go  into  details 
of  the  subject  in  this  place.  The  term  "drifting"  when  ap- 
plied to  this  class  of  gravel  mining,  relates  to  the  mode  of 
extraction  of  the  auriferous  gravel  by  means  of  tunnels  and 
gangways  or  breasts.  This  system  is  rendered  necessary  in 
consequence  of  the  capping  of  volcanic  lava  overlying  the 
ancient  channels  in  which  the  gold  is  found,  and  rendering 
hydraulic  operations  impossible.  In  hydraulickingthe  entire 
face  and  body  of  the  bank  are  removed  by  the  piping;  in 
drift  claims,  only  the  lower  stratum  of  gravel  lying  on  the 
bed  rock  is  mined  and  washed. 

The  conditions  of  drift  mining  ground  may  be  briefly 
described  as  follows :  A  "divide"  or  ridge  between  two  deep 
river  canyons,  with  the  top  sometimes  several  miles  wide, 
mesalike  and  comparatively  level,  and  having  only  one 
main  slope  in  the  direction  of  the  ancient  buried  river,  con- 
ceals the  old  channel  lying  beneath  it.  The  top  is  usually 
composed  of  lava  several  hundred  feet  thick,  and  some- 
where under  this  lava  cap,  and  between  walls  of  true  coun- 
try rock  termed  the  "rims"  is  the  channel  of  the  ancient 
or  dead  river,  sometimes  with  gravel  a  hundred  or  more  feet 
thick;  this  gravel  is  sometimes  barren  of  gold  but  more  fre- 
quently is  rich.  The  problem  of  drift  mining  is  to  find  the 
position  of  these  ancient  river  channels,  and  open  them  up. 
This  is  done  by  means  of  tunnels  run  in  from  the  side  of  the 
divide,  and  when  the  channel  is  found  the  tunnel  is  con- 
tinued along  its  course,  and  the  lower  central  portion  of  the 
gravel  is  drifted  out.  Sometimes  shafts  are  sunk  to; get  at  the 
gravel,  where  the  lava  cap  or  upper  material  is  thin,  but 
generally  tunnels  are  used.  These  suffice  for  drainage  and 
also  to  run  out  the  cars  with  the  gravel.  It  is  not  at  all 
unusual  for  these  bedrock  tunnels  to  be  from  4,000  to  8,000 
feet  in  length,  and  there  are  hundreds  of  them  in  the  drift 


THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES   OF  CALIFORNIA.  189 

mining  region.  Sometimes  they  do  not  strike  the  channel 
at  the  point  expected  and  have  to  run  inclines  down  or 
make  upraises  to  get  at  the  pay  at  the  end  of  the  bedrock 
tunnel.  Again  they  find  the  gravel  has  no  pay  and  the 
whole  work  is  lost.  But  when  good  channels  are  struck 
they  pay  handsomely.  In  the  Red  Point  mine  in  Placer 
county,  where  recently  they  worked  out  the  entire  channel 
in  their  ground,  the  length  of  the  tunnel  was  nearly  15,000 
feet.  In  the  famous  Hidden  Treasure  mine,  in  the  same 
county,  there  are  many  thousand  feet  of  tunnel,  and  the 
gravel  is  removed  in  cars  run  by  electric  power.  Detailed 
information  concerning  this  class  of  mines  may  be  found  in 
the  tenth  report  of  the  state  mineralogist,  in  an  article  by 
Ross  E.  Browne;  in  the  eighth  report,  is  an  article  by  Russel 
L.  Dunn;  and  in  the  ninth  report  is  an  article  by  John  Hays 
Hammond.  This  class  of  mining  can  only  be  carried  on  by 
organized  capital,  generally  speaking,  though  there  are 
many  instances  where  a  few  men,  working  as  partners,  have 
dug  away  at  bedrock  tunnels  for  years  to  reach  the  gravel, 
some  working  for  wages  elsewhere  to  keep  the  other  part- 
ners going  in  the  tunnel.  One  reason  why  there  are  not 
more  drift  mines  being  operated  is  that  much  preliminary 
expense  must  be  undergone  before  the  channel  is  tapped, 
and  then  it  may  be  poor,  and  it  sometimes  takes  two  or 
three  years  to  complete  the  bedrock  tunnels  to  the  gravel 
channels. 

Ordinary  surface  placers  of  all  varieties  are  worked  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent  throughout  the  state,  and  the  aggre- 
gate yield  from  the  gulches,  flats,  river  beds,  river  bars, 
ocean  beach  sands,  etc.,  still  amounts  to  a  large  sum  an- 
nually. 

In  fact,  as  dredging  is  only  another  form  of  surface 
placer  mining,  when  the  results  from  that  source  are 
counted  in  w^ith  the  other  surface  placer  yield  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  output  from  the  placers  of  California  exceeds  that 
from  the  deep  gravels  worked  by  drift  and  hydraulic 
process. 

The  dredge  and  placer  miners  combined  made,  in  1903, 
an  output  of  $2,267,560  in  gold,  while  the  combined  hy- 


190  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 

draulic  and  drift  miners  only  produced  in  the  same  period 
|1,688,995.  In  fact  the  dredge  mining  yield  alone  came 
within  $181,456  of  equaling  the  combined  output  of  the  hy- 
draulic and  drift  mines  of  the  state. 

It  seems  rather  an  odd  circumstance  that  while  placer 
mining  was  supposed  to  be  a  thing  of  the  past  many  years 
ago  in  California,  that  branch  of  gold  mining  is  now  exceed- 
ing in  annual  output  both  hydraulic  and  drift  work,  and  is 
showing  in  these  days  a  larger  proportionate  increase  in  an- 
nual product  than  any  other  form  of  the  gold  mining  indus- 
try. It  is  a  marked  instance  of  the  influence  of  the  improve- 
ment of  mechanical  appliances  connected  with  an  industry. 
The  placer  deposits  were  not  worked  out  as  supposed.  It 
was  simply  the  lack  of  the  proper  tools  and  processes  to 
utilize  them.  The  early  miners  who  worked  with  pan, 
rocker,  sluice,  torn,  etc.,  were  restricted  to  ground  rich 
enough  to  pay  by  those  methods.  They  were  generally  re- 
stricted in  larger  operations  to  ground  where  there  was 
"fall"  and  dump,  with  a  water  supply  at  an  elevation  above. 
The  invention  of  the  mining  dredge  has  changed  all  this  and 
made  it  possible  to  work  ground  of  very  small  value  per 
cubic  yard,  and  where  what  were  formerly  considered 
necessary  features,  are  entirely  absent^ 

These  machines  dig  far  below  water  level  and  pile  their 
tailings  and  rocks  high  above  ground  in  the  pits  they  them- 
selves have  dug  and  vacated.  No  "fall"  is  necessary.  The 
water  to  wash  the  gravel  is  pumped,  and  the  gravel  is 
washed  and  gold  saved  in  the  machine  which  digs  it  up. 
The  ground  worked  must  not  necessarily  be  in  a  river  bed. 
Dredges  are  now  being  worked  far  from  water  courses,  in 
pits  formed  to  float  them,  water  being  led  in  for  the  pur- 
pose. As  the  dredge  advances  the  pit  behind  is  filled  with 
the  rock  and  debris  by  the  "stacker."  In  fact  the  dredge 
may  be  said  to  carry  its  float  pit  around  with  it,  as  it  digs 
its  way  along. 

To  show  what  an  era  in  gold  mining  has  been  brought 
about  by  new  mechanical  appliances  of  obtaining  gold,  it 
may  be  stated  that  an  ordinary  miner,  working  with  pick, 
shovel,  sluices,  etc.,  may  pick  down,  shovel  in  and  wash 


. 

THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES   OF  CALIFORNIA.  191 

about  two  and  one-half  cubic  yards  of  gravel  in  a  working- 
day.  This  would  be  about  an  average  workman's  duty.  The 
dredge  handles  4,000  cubic  yards  daily,  with  three  men 
working  three  shifts,  of  eight  hours  each.  The  machinery 
of  the  dredge,  therefore,  represents  the  work  of  about 
1,600  men,  and  it  only  takes  nine  men  to  direct  it  for  twen- 
ty-four hours.  The  latest  machines  set  at  work  have  a 
capacity  of  6,000  cubic  yards,  or  equal  to  the  hand  work  per 
day  of  2,400  men,  the  machine,  however,  working  longer 
hours  of  course.  Taking  the  twenty-seven  dredges  operat- 
ing at  Oroville,  as  having  an  average  capacity  of  4,000  cubic 
yards,  they  are  doing  daily  work,  which  it  would  take  43,000 
men  to  do  if  these  men  dug  out,  hoisted  and  worked  the 
gravel  by  ordinary  hand  work,  in  the  old  fashioned  placer 
mining  way. 

Dredge  mining  is  a  comparatively  new  branch  of  the 
gold  mining  industry  of  California,  it  having  been  devel- 
oped within  the  past  five  years.  It  is  very  rapidly  increas- 
ing in  importance.  In  1902  the  gold  yield  from  that  source 
was  |801,295  and  in  1903  was,  |1,507,539,  an  increase  of 
|706,244,  or  a  gain  of  88.14  per  cent,  in  one  year. 

In  1904  a  very  much  larger  yield  will  be  shown  as  a 
number  of  new  and  larger  dredges  have  been  recently  con- 
structed. 

In  fact,  this  is  now  the  most  rapidly  advancing  branch 
of  the  gold  mining  industry  of  the  state.  Lands  available 
for  dredging  are  in  great  demand  and  are  being  diligently 
prospected  in  many  of  the  counties.  Lands  formerly  un- 
used, or  used  for  grazing,  etc.,  and  with  only  nominal  value 
nave  jumped  in  price  to  f  1,000,  |2,000  and  even  $3,000  per 
acre.  The  general  average  price  is,  however,  about  $800 
per  acre.  This  class  of  mining  has  an  advantage  not  com- 
mon to  others.  That  is,  they  can  tell  before  commencing 
active  operations,  just  about  what  yield  to  expect.  The 
tracts  are  first  prospected  by  means  of  Keystone  drills, 
holes  being  sunk  at  many  places,  and  the  gravel  brought  up 
and  carefully  sampled.  The  operations,  however,  involve 
the  investment  of  considerable  capital,  since,  aside  from 
the  cost  of  the  dredging  lands,  the  machines  themselves  cost 


192  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

from  |60,000  to  $100,000  and  are  expensive  to  keep  in  repair. 

The  principal  seat  of  the  industry  is  at  Oroville,  Butte 
county,  where  there  now  are  twenty-seven  dredges  at  work 
and  others  in  course  of  construction.  The  operations  of  the 
dredges  at  that  point  made  Butte  county  show  the  largest 
increased  gold  product  over  previous  years  of  any  county 
in  the  state,  the  increase  amounting  to  $652,864.  Very 
large  dredges  with  capacity  of  6,000  cubic  yards  per  day, 
to  dredge  sixty  feet  below  water  level,  and  to  "stack"  rocks 
and  tailings  forty  feet  above  water  level,  have  recently  been 
started  up  in  Yuba  county,  between  Marysville  and  Smarts- 
ville.  Machines  are  also  operated  in  Sacramento,  Trinity 
and  Shasta  county,  and  are  being  installed  in  many  other 
places.  It  would  astonish  the  old  miners  of  early  days  to 
see  the  wonderful  capacity  of  these  machines,  and  the  ease 
with  which  they  are  controlled  and  operated.  Generally 
electric  power  is  used,  and  one  man,  with  suitable  appli- 
ances, controls  the  movements  of  the  dredge  and  its  ma- 
chinery. 

The  costs  and  profits  of  dredge  mining  of  course  vary 
greatly  with  the  character  of  the  ground,  and  the  exact  facts 
are  not  made  public.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the 
ground  around  Oroville  will  average  27  cents  a  cubic  yard 
and  is  mined  at  a  cost  of  10  cents.  Yet  it  is  known  that 
some  machines  are  profitably  operated  on  ground  yielding 
only  11  cents  a  cubic  yard.  A  large  amount  of  this  ground 
being  dredged  had  already  been  worked  by  early-day  min- 
ers, who  sunk  numerous  shafts  to  bedrock — about  thirty 
feet.  At  one  time  over  10,000  Chinese  mined  these  "lava 
beds"  near  Oroville.  The  work  of  the  dredges  does  not  aver- 
age over  twenty  hours  a  day,  taking  it  the  month  round. 
Necessary  repairs  take  up  considerable  time.  While  gold 
is  still  the  principal  mineral  product  of  the  state,  it  forms 
only  43.62  per  cent,  of  the  valuation  of  the  annual  mineral 
output  of  California,  the  greater  progress  has  been  of  late 
manifested  in  other  branches  of  mining  than  in  gold.  There 
are  some  seventy  known  mineral  substances  of  economic 
value  found  in  the  state,  and  at  present  forty-four  of  these 
are  being  commercially  utilized.  The  relation  of  the  prin- 


THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES   OF  CALIFORNIA. 


193 


cipal  mineral  products  is:  First,  gold;  second,  petroleum; 
third,  copper;  fourth,  clays  and  their  products;  fifth,  quick- 
silver. The  total  valuation,  with  amounts,  of  all  mineral 
substances  produced  in  California  in  1903  may  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  following  table: 

Total  Mineral  Product  of  California  for  1903. 
Description —  Quantity.    Value. 

Asphalt,  tons    41,670  $    503,659 

Bituminous  rock,  tons    21,944  53,106 

Borax,  tons  34,430  661,400 

Cement,  barrels 640,868  968,727 

Chrome,  tons   150  2,250 

Chrysoprase    500 

Clays :  j  For  Pottery,  tons  90,962  99,907 

I  For  Brick,  thousand  214,403  1,999,546 

Coal,  tons 93,026  265,383 

Copper,  pounds • 19,113,861  2,520,997 

Fullers  Earth,  tons 250  4,750 

Glass  sand,  tons  7,725  7,525 

Gold    16,471,264 

Granite,  cubic  feet  408,625  678,670 

Gypsum,  tons  6,914  ,      46,441 

Infusorial  Earth,  tons  2,703  16,015 

Lead,  pounds   110,000  3,960 

Lime,  barrels 496,587  418,280 

Limestone,  tons    125,919  163,988 

Lithia  Mica,  tons    . 700  27,300 

Macadam,  tons   605,185  436,172 

Manganese,  tons  1  25 

Magnesite,   tons    1,361  20,515 

Marble,  cubic  feet  84,624  97,354 

Mica,  tons 50  3,800 

Mineral  Paint,  tons 2.370  3,720 

Mineral  Water,  gallons   2,056,340  558,201 

Natural  Gas,  thousand  cubic  feet 120,134  75,237 

Paving  Blocks,  thousand   „ 4,854  134,642 

Petroleum,  barrels   24,340,83*9  7,313,271 

Platinum    1,052 

Pyrites,  tons   24,311  94,000 

Quartz  Crystals 1,968 

Quicksilver,  flasks    32,094  1,335,954 

Rubble,  tons  1,610,440  1,237,419 

Salt,  tons    102,895  211,365 

Sandstone,  cubic  feet 353,002  585,309 

Serpentine,  cubic  feet  99  800 

Silver 517,444 

Slate,  squares    10,000  70,000 

Soapstone,  tons  219  10,124 

Soda,  tons    18,000  27,000 

Tourmaline   100,000 

Turquoise    : 10,000 


$37,759,040 

In  the  previous  year  the  total  product  was  valued  at 
$35,069,105  so  that  the  increase  in  value  for  1903  is  $2,689,- 
935. 


194  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

An  analysis  of  the  table  shows  that  the  total  value  of 
the  gold  and  silver  was  $16,988,708  and  of  the  metallic  sub- 
stances (including  gold  and  silver)  $20,856,660.  This  in- 
cludes gold,  silver,  mineral  paints,  quicksilver,  copper,  lead, 
manganese  platinum  and  chrome. 

The  total  value  of  the  non-metallic  substances  was 
$2,048,638.  These  include  borax,  coal,  crysoprase,  mineral 
waters,  salt,  infusorial  earth,  gypsum,  magnesite,  pyrites, 
lithia  mica,  fullers  earth,  quartz  crystals,  mica,  soda,  tour- 
maline and  turquoise.  The  total  value  of  hydrocarbons 
-and  gases  was  $7,945,273,  an  increase  of  $2,760,886  over  the 
previous  year.  The  hydrocarbons  include  asphalt,  bitumin- 
ous rock,  natural  gas  and  petroleum.  The  output  of  oil  was 
24,340,839  barrels,  an  increase  of  over  ten  million  barrels 
over  the  previous  year,  and  its  value  $7,313,271,  an  increase 
of  $4,692,189  over  1902. 

In 'structural  materials  there  is  a  constant  and  steady 
increase  in  output  and  value.  Their  combined  value  is  $6,- 
908,463,  an  increase  of  $2,799,440  over  previous  year.  These 
materials  include  brick  and  pottery  clays,  Portland  cement, 
lime  and  limestone,  macadam  rubble  and  concrete  rock,  pav- 
ing blocks,  marble,  granite,  sandstone,  serpentine,  slate, 
glass  sand  and  soapstone. 

To  show  the  w^ide  distribution  and  variety  of  mineral 
substances  in  California,  it  may  be  stated  that  in  1903  that 
every  one  of  the  fifty-seven  counties  of  the  state — mountain, 
foothill,  valley,  coast  and  desert — produced  one  or  more 
minerals  except  three.  Gold  was  mined  in  thirty-four  coun- 
ties and  is  known  to  exist  in  several  others.  Silver  was  pro- 
duced in  twenty-six  counties;  brick  clays  in  twenty-six; 
mineral  waters  in  eighteen;  copper  and  lime  in  fifteen;  rub- 
ble rock  in  nineteen;  macadam  in  sixteen;  and  granite  in 
fourteen.  Quicksilver  was  produced  in  nine  counties;  as- 
phalt in  eight;  petroleum  and  sandstone  in  seven;  salt  in 
six;  bituminous  rock  and  marble  in  five;  cement,  coal,  pot- 
tery clay,  paving  blocks  and  platinum  in  four;  borax,  min- 
eral paint,  lead  and  natural  gas  in  three;  glass  sand,  gyp- 
sum, infusorial  earth,  magnesite  and  pyrites  in  two.  The 
following  substances  were'  each  produced  in  one  county: 


THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES  OF  CALIFORNIA.  195 

chrome,  ehrysoprase,  fullers  earth,  lithia  mica,  mica,  man- 
ganese, quartz,  crystals,  slate,  soapstone,  serpentine,  tour- 
maline and  turquoise. 

The  following  shows  the  gradual  increase  in  value  of 
total  mineral  production  of  California  in  recent  years,  as 
indicated  by  the  published  official  report  of  the  state  miner- 
alogist: 

1893 $  18,811.261 

1894  20,203,294 

1895  22,844,663 

1896  24,291,398 

1897 25,142,441 

1898 27,289,079 

1899  29,313,460 

1900 32,622,945 

1901  - 34,355,981 

]  902  35,069,105 

1903 37,759,040 


$307,702,667 

This  is  a  very  suggestive  table  as  it  proves  the  state- 
ments previously  made  herein  as  to  the  advancement  being 
made  in  the  mining  industry  of  the  state  from  year  to  year. 
For  the  last  seventeen  years,  from  1887  to  1903  inclusive, 
the  total  is  $418,851,833.  The  miners  of  California  have 
reason  to  be  proud  of  this  record. 

The  limitations  of  this  paper  necessitate  a  brief  refer- 
ence only  to  the  other  substances  than  gold  produced  in 
California,  though  some  of  them  are  growing  rapidly  in  im- 
portance. The  state  is  the  principal  producer  of  asphalt 
and  allied  bitumens  in  the  United  States.  Most  of  the  as- 
phalt produced  now  is  made  in  the  process  of  refining  the 
California  petroleum  oils,  they  having  generally  an  asphalt 
base.  The  lighter  substance  being  removed  the  pure 
asphalt  remains.  From  the  counties  of  Kern,  Los  Angeles, 
Monterey,  Santa  Barbara,  Santa  Clara  and  Ventura  came 
41,670  tons  in  1903,  valued  at  $503,659.  The  bituminous  rock 
comes  from  Fresno,  Kern,  Santa  Clara,  Santa  Cruz  and  San 
Luis  Obispo.  Borax  is  found  in  only  three  states  of  the 
Union — California,  Oregon  and  Nevada — the  production 
at  present  coming  entirely  from  California,  The  yield  in 
1903  was  34,730  tons  of  crude  material,  worth  |661,400, 
though  its  value  when  refined  is  |2,750,000.  The  deposits 


196  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING  CONGRESS. 

are  mainly  in  San  Bernardino  county,  although  some  conies 
from  Inyo  and  Ventura.  The  output  of  this  material  is  in- 
creasing, as  more  uses  are  being  found  for  it.  Brick  and 
pottery  clays  are  found  in  many  counties  and  the  annual 
valuation  runs  into  high  figures. 

Within  the  past  two  years  the  manufacture  of  Port- 
land cement  has  become  a  very  important  industry.  The 
best  lime  and  clay  deposits  lying  adjacent  to  each  other 
are  found  in  Napa,  San  Bernardino  and  Solano  counties, 
which  combined  produced  640,868  barrels  last  year,  worth 
$968,727.  This  is  a  new  industry  in  California,  where  large 
quantities  of  imported  cement  have  heretofore  been  made. 
Very  little  chrome  is  now  produced,  but  arrangements  have 
been  made  by  foreign  capital  to  open  the  extensive  deposits 
in  Shasta  county.  The  coal  mining  interests  of  the  state 
.are  not  very  extensive,  although  the  counties  of  Alameda, 
Contra  Costa,  Monterey  and  Orange  produced  93,026  tons 
in  1903,  worth  $265,383. 

Copper  mining  in  California  has  within  the  last  decade 
become  a  very  important  branch  of  the  industry  and  is  rap- 
idly growing.  In  1903  the  state  product  was  19,113,861 
pounds,  worth,  $2,520,997.  Of  this  over  sixteen  and  a  half 
million  pounds  came  from  two  large  mines  in  Shasta  county, 
the  center  of  the  copper  mining  field,  where  large  smelters 
have  been  erected.  There  are  mines  of  the  metal,  however, 
being  worked  in  fifteen  counties  of  the  state,  and  other  de- 
posits are  known  but  not  yet  utilized.  Several  new  smelt- 
ers are  to  be  put  up  at  mines  now  being  developed. 

Small  quantities  of  fullers  earth  are  mined,  and  con- 
siderable glass  sand  is  utilized  by  the  several  glass  fac- 
tories. The  granite  quarrying  interests  are  increasing  in 
importance  and  are  worked  in  fourteen  different  counties  of 
the  state.  The  total  value  of  the  output  last  year  was  worth 
$678,670.  There  is  some  little  graphite,  gypsum  and  infu- 
sorial earth,  and  lead  mined  but  the  values  are  small.  The 
values  of  lime  and  limestone  for  last  year  aggregated  $582,- 
268.  The  lithia-mica  all  comes  from  San  Diego  county.  The 
quarries  of  macadam,  concrete  rock  and  rubble  are  found 
in  many  counties  and  the  value  of  material  of  this  char- 


THE   MINING  INDUSTRIES  OF  CALIFORNIA.  197 

acter  quarried  in  1903  was  $1,673,591.  This  part  of  the 
quarrying  industry  has  become  vevj  important  of  late,  as 
more  road  paving  is  done,  and  harbor  and  sea  wall  improve- 
ments are  being  made.  The  manganese  mines  in  the  state 
are  now  unimportant,  there  being  little  demand  for  the  ma- 
terial. The  magnesite  mines  are  the  only  ones  worked  in 
the  United  States.  The  product  is  used  for  the  manufacture 
of  carbonic  acid  gas  and  in  paper  manufacture  as  well  as 
for  making  fire  proof  brick  for  furnace  linings.  Marble  is 
quarried  in  five  counties;  and  mica  is  produced  in  Ventura 
county.  Small  quantities  of  mineral  paint  are  also  mined. 

California  has  become  famous  for  her  mineral  springs, 
both  in  number  and  variety  of  chemical  features.  The  wa- 
ters are  now  utilized  commercially,  by  being  bottled  for 
sale,  in  eighteen  counties  of  the  state.  The  aggregate  value 
of  the  waters  sold  in  1903  was  $558,201.  Natural  gas  is 
found,  not  only  in  the  oil  fields,  but  in  other  parts  of  the 
state,  notably  in  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  counties, 
where  it  is  utilized.  There  is  plenty  of  platinum  in  the 
black  sands  of  the  hydraulic  mines,  but  very  little  is  saved 
by  the  miners,  yet  there  is  some  annual  value  to  the  product 
of  this  metal.  Paving  blocks,  or  "basalt"  blocks,  are  quar- 
ried in  several  counties,  most  of  them  coming  from  Sonoma 
county.  Nearly  $100,000  wrorth  of  pyrites  are  mined  each 
year,  they  being  utilized  for  the  sulphur  contents  by  the 
powder  and  chemical  companies,  making  sulphuric  acid. 
Some  quartz  crystals  are  mined  and  sold  to  jewelers. 

Quicksilver  ores  are  mined  in  ten  counties  in  Califor- 
nia. Almost  the  entire  output  of  North  America  has  come 
from  this  state.  Last  year  Texas,  produced  some  5,000 
flasks,  and  a  few  hundred  have  come  from  Oregon.  Aside 
from  this  all  that  has  been  produced  in  the  United  States 
has  come  from  California,  which  still  produces  over  32,000 
flasks  of  seventy-six  and  one-half  pounds  each  per  year.  The 
total  output  of  the  state  has  amounted  to  1,945,125  flasks, 
from  1850  to  the  end  of  1903,  with  an  approximate  total  val- 
uation of  $85,760,102.  At  present  the  production  in  the 
state  is  on  the  increase,  but  prices  have  fallen  somewhat 
owing  to  overproduction.  The  United  States  does  not  take 


198  PROCEEDINGS   AMERICAN   MINING   CONGRESS. 

even  all  the  California  product.  So  that  much  has  to  be 
exported  to  China  and  elsewhere  for  a  market,  where  lower 
prices  are  obtained  owing  to  the  competition  with  the  Euro- 
pean product. 

Large  quantities  of  salt  are  produced  in  the  state, 
mainly,  however,  from  evaporation  of  ocean  waters.  The 
sandstone  quarries  in  seven  counties  yielded  f  585,309  worth 
last  year.  Small  quantities  of  slate,  serpentine  and  soap- 
stone  are  quarried.  Gem  mining  has  within  the  past  few 
years  assumed  some  importance,  the  turquoise  tourmaline 
and  Kunzite  coming  from  San  Diego  county  and  the  chryso- 
prase  from  Tulare. 

California  supports  by  annual  appropriation  a  state 
mining  bureau,  in  charge  of  a  salaried  state  mineralogist 
and  a  board  of  trustees  who  serve  in  an  honorary  capacity. 
The  extensive  museum  of  this  institution,  in  the  Union 
Ferry  building,  San  Francisco,  is  equipped  with  cases  show- 
ing specimens  of  all  mineral  products,  arranged  both  by 
substance  and  county,  and  open  to  the  public  daily.  There 
is  also  a  well  equipped  laboratory  for  the  determination  of 
minerals,  etc.,  where  the  public  may,  without  cost,  have 
specimens  of  any  kind,  identified  and  named.  The  library 
of  technical  works,  and  other  books  relating  to  mining  and 
metallurgy  may  be  used  by  any  one  for  reference  purposes. 
The  state  mineralogist  has  a  corps  of  skilled  field  assistants 
to  report  on  the  mining  conditions  in  the  various  counties 
or  prepare  special  bulletins.  The  bureau  issues  county 
maps  and  registers,  of  the  different  sections  of  the  state, 
in  which  each  mine  in  the  county  is  briefly  described,  with 
its  exact  location,  extent  of  development,  ownership,  etc. 
The  accompanying  maps  have  the  location  of  the  mines 
marked  upon  them,  and  also  the  rivers,  streams,  roads, 
trails,  etc.  Bulletins  on  special  subjects  are  also  issued, 
containing  full  description  of  the  mines  under  considera- 
tion with  maps  of  districts  and  of  the  state,  showing  the 
location  of  all  deposits.  These  bulletins  are  freely  illus- 
trated. Those  thus  far  published  are  on  the  following  sub- 
jects: "Methods  of  Mine  Timbering;'7  "Gas  and  Petroleum 
Yielding  Formations  of  Central  Valley  of  California;"  "Cat- 


THE    MINING  INDUSTRIES   OF  CALIFORNIA.  199 

alogue  of  California  Fossils ;"  "Cyanide  Process ;"  "Califor- 
nia Gold  Mill  Practices;"  "Mine  Drainage  Pumps,  etc.;" 
"Bibliography  Relating  to  Geology  and  Mineral  Resources 
of  California;"  "Oil  and  Gas  Yielding  Formations  of  Los 
Angeles,  Ventura  and  Santa  Barbara  County;"  "Genesis  of 
Petroleum  and  Asphalt  in  California;"  "The  Mother  Lode 
Region  of  California;"  "Oil  and  Gas  Yielding  Formations 
of  California;"  "Copper  Resources  of  California;"  "Saline 
Deposits  of  California;"  "Quicksilver  Resources  of  Califor- 
nia;" "Production  and  Uses  of  Petroleum  in  California." 

These  bulletins  are  in  addition  to  the  usual  biennial 
reports,  and  the  annual  statistical  bulletins  issued  showing 
by  counties  the  amount  and  value  of  all  substances  mined 
or  quarried  in  California.  This  state  mining  bureau  was 
established  in  1880  and  has  grown  in  importance  and  value 
ever  since.  The  annual  appropriation  for  its  support  aver- 
ages about  $30,000. 

There  is  also  in  the  state  an  organization  known  as  the 
California  Miners'  Association,  an  unofficial  body,  but  hav- 
ing branch  organizations  in  the  mining  counties,  all  having 
a  care  for  the  mining  industries  of  the  state.  An  annual 
convention  is  held,  comprised  of  representatives  from  the 
different  counties,  where  matters  relating  to  the  benefit  of 
the  miners  of  California  are  discussed  and  passed  upon. 
To  an  executive  committee  is  left  the  duty  of  carrying  out 
the  resolutions  of  the  convention.  The  main  objects  are  to 
prevent  adverse  legislation  and  to  suggest  that  which  shall 
be  beneficial  to  the  mining  interests. 


The  Geology  and  Mineral  Resources  of  Idaho. 

BY  ROBERT  N.   BELL,   STATE  INSPECTOR   OF   MINES. 

In  the  nature  and  proportion  of  its  rock  formations, 
Idaho  compares  more  closely  with  Colorado  than  with  any 
other  state.  The  principal  feature  being  its  enormous  de- 
velopment of  granite  formations  and  extrusive  lavas  which 
together  with  their  included  alluvial  areas  occupy  fully 
seven-tenths  of  the  total  area  of  the  state.  Of  much  smaller 
extent  than  either  the  granite  or  the  lava,  but  at  present 
of  much  greater  economic  importance  in  a  mineral  way,  are 
the  limestones  and  crystalline  metamorphic  rocks  which, 
occur  in  detached  areas  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  state  and  are  noted  for  the  lead  silver  minerals  they 
contain,  particularly  in  Shoshone,  Lemhi,  Ouster,  Elaine 
and  Owyhee  counties. 

In  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  state  a  limited  field  of 
unaltered  cretaceous  coal  bearing  formations  are  now  being 
exploited  with  most  gratifying  evidence  of  disclosing  ex- 
tensive deposits  of  excellent  bituminous  coal. 

Limited  horizons  of  Permian  formations  occur  in  the 
mountains  east  of  Pocatello,  while  the  tertiary  is  repre- 
sented by  quite  extensive  jareas  of  post  miocene  lake  bed 
deposits  along  the  western  areas  of  the  Snake  river  valley 
and  contemporaneous  with  the  basalt  flows. 

Literature  on  the  Subject. 

Southern  Idaho  has  enjoyed  considerable  attention 
from  the  officials  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
including  King,  Hayden,  Becker,  Eldredge,  Russell  and 
Lindgren,  and  some  important  and  entertaining  observa- 
tions have  been  recorded.  Among  those  of  special  interest 
at  the  present  time  are  the  following:  A  reconnoissance 
across  Idaho  by  George  H.  Eldredge,  "Sixteenth  Annual 
Report,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey."  The  Mining  Districts  of 
Idaho  Basin  and  the  Boise  Ridge  by  Waldman  Lindgren, 
"Eighteenth  Annual  Report."  The  Gold  and  Silver  Veins 


GEOLOGY   AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OP  IDAHO.  201 

of  Silver  City,  DeLamar  and  other  Mining  Districts  in 
Idaho,  "Twentieth  Annual  Report."  The  last  named  work, 
issued  in  bulletin  form,  is  especially  interesting  and  in- 
structive, and  covers,  besides  Silver  City  and  DeLamar,  spe- 
cial chapters  on  Wood,  River,  Seven  Devils,  Warren  and 
Florence.  North  Central  Idaho,  especially  the  Clearwater 
mountains  in  Idaho  county,  including  Elk  City  and  Buffalo 
Hump  districts,  are  given  a  brief  review  by  Mr.  Lindgren  in 
"Contributions  to  Economic  Geology,  1902,"  issued  by  the 
survey. 

The  Coeur  d'Alene  district,  of  Northern  Idaho,  with  an 
output  of  lead  and  silver  approximating  one  hundred  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  has,  until  the  present  time,  been  singularly 
slighted  by  the  Government  service  considering  its  eco- 
nomic importance.  The  IT.  S.  Geological  Survey  Depart- 
ment published  a  fine  topographic  map  of  the  district  last 
year,  however,  and  now  have  a  corps  of  experts  studying 
its  economic  geology.  Its  forthcoming  report  will  be  antic- 
ipated with  a  good  deal  of  interest  as  the  district  contains 
distinctive  features  at  variance  with  every  other  important 
lead  producing  district  in  the  United  States. 

The  most  complete  published  account  of  the  resources 
of  the  Coeur  d'Alene  is  a  paper  by  Mr.  J.  K.  Finlay,  "Trans- 
actions American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers."  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  meeting,  February  and  May,  1902, 
-entitled:  "The  Mining  Industry  of  the  Coeur  d'Alene, 
Idaho."  Mr.  Finlay  was  a  resident  engineer  of  the  district 
for  several  years.  His  paper  is  a  very  able  review  of  the 
subject  and  is  handsomely  illustrated. 

Topography. 

The  broad  topographic  features  of  Idaho  are  the  drain- 
age systems  of  the  Snake  and  Columbia  Rivers  with  a  vast 
arid  plain  along  the  former  and  crossing  the  full  width  of 
the  state  with  some  prominent  mountain  uplifts  and  broad 
desert  plateaus  separating  it  from  the  great  basin  on  the 
south,  while  north  of  the  Snake  River,  extending  through 
the  British  line,  is  a  labyrinthian  mass  of  mountains  and 
canyons  without  any  definite  range  system;  a  deeply  eroded 


202  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

broad  plateau,  remanent  evidences  of  which  are  left  along 
the  western  border  of  the  state,  where  important  areas  are 
in  the  humid  zone,  and  produce  rich  crops  without  irriga- 
tion. 

Idaho  is  one  of  the  best  Avatered  and  timbered  states 
"in  the  Union.  This  statement  cannot  be  appreciated  by 
travelers  on  either  of  the  main  divisions  of  the  Oregon 
Short  Line  Kailway,  which  traverses  some  of  the  most  deso- 
late areas  of  the  Snake  River  Valley;  a  trip  on  any  of  the 
Short  Line  branches  in  this  state,  however,  lends  a  better 
impression. 

From  the  bold  uplifts  along  the  northern  rim  of  the 
Snake  River  Valley,  the  mountains  are  heavily  timbered 
through  to  the  northern  extremity  of  the  state  and  contain 
some  extensive  stretches  of  yellow  and  white  pine,  red  fir 
and  cedar,  that  will  support  an  extensive  lumbering  indus- 
try for  years. 

The  extreme  elevations  range  from  eleven  hundred  feet 
at  Lewiston  to  a  cone-shaped  peak  of  eruptive  granite  thir- 
teen thousand  feet  above  sea  level  called  Castle  Peak  in  a 
rugged  aggregation  of  sharp  summits  known  as  the  East 
Fork  Mountains  that  form  a  spur  of  the  Sawtooth  Range  in 
Ouster  County.  Elevations  of  ten  thousand  feet  are  not  un- 
common over  the  southeastern  part  of  the  state  and  along 
the  Continental  Divide,  which  forms  a  portion  of  the  east- 
ern boundary  line;  but  the  general  elevation  of  the  numer- 
ous ridges  and  summits  which  separate  the  deep  cut  can- 
yons over  the  central  and  northern  portions  of  the  state  are 
very  much  lower  and  fall  aAvay  quite  rapidly  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  drainage  to  the  west,  affording  steep  grades  for 
numerous  large  streams  and  available  water  power  practi- 
cally unlimited. 

The  Granite. 

The  granite  mass  of  Central  Idaho,  with  the  limited 
areas  and  island-like  inclusions  of  crystalline  metamorphic 
rocks  and  igneous  overflows,  is  probably  the  largest  con- 
nected area  of  granite  in  the  United  States.  It  extends 
from  the  north  rim  of  the  Snake  River  Plain  to  the  British 
Columbia  line,  and  is  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF  IDAHO.  203 

miles  broad  from  east  to  west  and  is  doubtless  connected 
under  the  sediments  and  lava  flows  with  the  bold  uplifts  of 
granite  in  Owyhee  and  Cassia  Counties  south  of  the  Snake 
River  Plain. 

The  age  of  the  granite  formations  of  this  state  vary  in 
the  opinions  of  the  different  geologists  who  have  examined 
them,  from  Archaean  to  Post  Carboniferous.  That  w^ide 
areas  of  them  are  of  eruptive  origin  and  of  comparatively 
recent  date,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  From  the  included  belts 
of  altered  sedimentaries  and  intruded  dikes  that  may  be  ob- 
served at  several  points  branching  out  from  a  main  granite 
base  into  overlying  strata  of  limestones,  quartzite  and 
slates  of  known  carboniferous  age.  This  is  especially  true 
of  the  southeastern  portions  of  the  main  mass.  Further 
north  in  the  canyon  of  the  main  Salmon  Kiver  and  through 
the  Clearwater  Mountains  along  the  western  slope  of  the 
Bitter  Root  Range  extensive  areas  of  coarse  gneiss  have 
been  assigned  to  the  Archaean.  The  granite  formations  of 
Idaho  have  been  responsible  for  fully  ninety  per  cent,  of 
the  great  gold  production  of  the  state  and  are  likely  to  con- 
tinue of  great  economic  importance  in  this  respect. 

Igneous  Hocks. 

The  Basaltic  lava  fields  of  Southern  Idaho,  estimated 
at  20,000  square  miles,  cover  the  Snake  River  Basin  in  a 
thin  sheet  that  gradually  thickens  to  the  west  where  it 
joins  the  Columbia  flow  of  older  basalt  and  forms  a  narrow 
belt  that  covers  a  portion  of  the  whole  western  tier  of 
Idaho  counties. 

Some  of  the  fresh  black  corrugated  basalt  flows  that 
look  like  a  recently  cooled  slag  dump  that  may  be  observed 
at  numerous  points  along  the  north  border  of  the  Snake 
River  Plain  are  suggested  by  Professor  Russell  (Bulletin  of 
the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  o.  199)  to  have  been  in  eruption 
at.  as  recent  a  date  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

Underlying  the  basalt  cap  at  a  comparatively  shallow 
depth  are  five  to  eight  hundred  feet  of  grey,  pink  and  brown- 
ish rhyolites  and  trachytes.  These  formations  are  well  ex- 
posed by  faulting  along  the  borders  of  the  valley,  especially 


204  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

at  Heises  Hot  Springs  on  the  South  Fork,  where  they  are 
underlaid  by  coal-bearing  cretaceous  sandstones  and  shales. 
None  of  the  basalt  or  massive  rhyolites  of  the  Upper  Snake 
River  Valley  have  so  far  proven  ore  bearing,  but  a  more 
brecciated  and  mineralized  variety  of  rhyolite  overlying  ba- 
salt, both  resting  on  the  eruptive  granite  of  the  Owyhee 
Mountains,  form  the  walls  of  the  Trade  Dollar,  Black  Jack 
and  DeLamar  veins,  which  have  been  famous  producers  of 
rich  gold  and  silver  ore  for  years. 

An  immense  system  of  rhyolite  dikes  in  the  mountains 
immediately  north  and  east  of  Boise  are  all  gold  bearing. 
The  whole  intermountain  region  north  of  Snake  River  shows 
an  excessive  development  of  igneous  intrusive  rocks  of  infin- 
ite variety  with  acidic  types  prevailing.  Great  cone  shape 
mountain  masses  of  quartz,  syenite  quartz,  porphyry  rhyo- 
lite and  andesite  occupy  the  Yankee  Fork  Mining  District 
in  Ouster  County.  They  rest  on  crystalline  metamorphic 
rocks  and  the  regional  granite,  and  at  Ouster  Mountain  and 
Estes  Mountain  have  been  very  productive  of  high  grade 
silver  gold  ore  from  nearly  vertical  fissure  veins. 

These  formations  and  their  associated  tuffs  and 
breccias  are  continued  in  extensive  outbursts  and  flows 
through  the  rugged  ranges  to  the  north  in  Lemhi  County, 
where  they  are  frequently  found  gold  bearing  en  mass,  but 
of  low  average  value. 

At  Thunder  Mountain  the  .whole  district  for  twenty 
miles  square  is  filled  with  volcanic  formations  of  acidic 
types  that  rest  on  granite  and  rise  to  numerous  sharp  cones 
and  ridges  eight  to  nine  thousand  feet  above  sea  level  with 
deep  cut  narrow  canyons  intervening  that  produce  a  rugged 
topography. 

The  prevailing  formations  of  the  rugged  Seven  Devil 
Range  in  Washington  County  are  old  eruptive  resembling 
fine  grained  diorites  and  green  stones  that  have, deluged  the 
underlying  metamorphic  formations  of  schist  slate  and 
marble,  the  latter  being  well  exposed  at  numerous  points, 
in  the  deep  transverse  canyons  on  either  slope  of  the  main 
range  as  is  also  in  some  instances  the  underlying  granite. 

Diorites  and  porphyries  find  an  extensive  development 


GEOLOGY   AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OP  IDAHO.  205 

in  the  lead  and  copper  bearing  limestones  and  quartzites  of 
the  Wood  River,  Lost  River  and  Birch  Creek  Mountains,  in 
Blaine,  Ouster  and  Lemhi  Counties  and  are  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  ore  bodies. 

Intrusive  dike  rocks  are  less  prevalent  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  state,  but  they  are  not  entirely  wanting  in  any  of 
the  developed  mining  districts. 

The  Metamorphic  Formations  and  Limestones. 

This  important  division  of  Idaho's  geology  finds  its 
greatest  development  covering  an  area  of  five  or  six  thou- 
sand square  miles  over  parts  of  Lemhi,  Custer  and  Blaine 
Counties,  a  limited  but  very  important  area  in  Shoshone 
County  and  several  other  limited  areas  and  narrow  belts  in 
Kootenai  County  and  along  the  southern  border  of  the 
state. 

These  formations  have  made  Idaho  famous  as  the  lead- 
ing lead  producing  state  in  the  Union.  Their  petrographic 
character  has  never  been  closely  studied,  but  they  are  sup- 
posed to  range  all  the  way  from  Algonkian  to  upper  Carbon- 
iferous in  age. 

From  where  it  strikes  almost  due  east  near  Gibbons- 
ville  in  Lemhi  County,  the  Continental  Divide  is  a  bold, 
clean  cut  mountain  range  for  seventy-five  miles  to  the  south- 
east. Its  sharp  crest  of,  bare  rock  is  broken  by  a  succession 
of  pyramid  peaks  that  mostly  exceed  ten  thousand  feet  in 
altitude,  consist  entirely  of  crystalline  metamorphic  forma- 
tions that  range  from  true  vitreous  white  quartzite  to 
schisty  grey  slates  and  greywacks,  often  excessively  con- 
torted and  containing  comparatively  few  dikes  of  intrusive 
rock,  which  are  of  a  heavy  basic  variety.  These  formations 
in  color,  texture  and  general  field  appearance  very  closely 
resemble  the  formations  of  the  lead  producing  center  of  the 
Coeur  d'Alenes.  .They  have  been  provisionally  assigned  to 
the  Algonkian  by  Mr.  Eldredge.  They  are  extensively  fis- 
sured and  contain  numerous  prospects  noted  for  coarse 
specimen  gold  ore,  usually  associated  with  lead  and  copper 
minerals. 

Near  the  southeastern  corner  of  Lemhi  County,  the 


:206  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS/ 

lower  flanks  of  this  range  show  a  remarkable  development 
of  heavy  bedded,  rather  coarse  grained,  pink  and  white 
quartzite  and  blue  limestone.  At  Skull  Canyon,  near  Kauf- 
man Postoffice,  the  successive  beds  of  clean  massive  blue 
limestone  and  lime  breccia  rich  in  middle  and  upper  car- 
boniferous fossils  aggregate  fully  four  thousand  feet  thick. 

Southwest  of  the  main  range  from  Nicholia,  the  Birch 
•Creek,  Little  and  Big  Lost  River  Mountains  are  really  three 
lofty  spurs  that  put  out  from  Salmon!  Kiver  Mountains  car- 
rying numerous  elevations  of  ten  and  eleven  thousand  feet. 
They  extend  southeast  as  fairly  regular  ranges  for  thirty  or 
forty  miles  and  suddenly  drop  off  to  hog  backs  and  isolated 
buttes  in  the  western  edge  of  the  Snake  River  Plain. 

These  are  typical  desert  ranges  of  deeply  faulted  and 
fractured  formations  that  are  almost  devoid  of  surface- 
.streams  in  spite  of  their  great  elevations  and  deep  snows. 
Their  formations  consist  of  massive  blue,  grey  and  drab 
limestones,  dolomites  and  marbles,  fine  grained  quartzite 
.and  enormous  intrusions  and  outbursts  of  diorite  syenite 
and  feldspar  porphyry.  They  are  rich  in  lead,  copper  and 
iron  minerals.  Present  idle  conditions  for  the  occurrence 
.and  development  ,of  profitable  ore  bodies,  are  easy  of  ac- 
cess, and  afford  a  very  inviting  and  extensive  field  for  ex- 
ploitation. West  of  these  spurs  the  main  mass  of  the  Sal- 
mon River  Mountains  consists  of  great  folds  of  diabese 
schists,  Cambrian  quartzites,  true  slates  and  some  lime- 
stones with  an  extensive  development  of  tertiary  lavas, 
-especially  along  the  main  Salmon  Canyon  where  massive 
flows  of  rhyolite  and  andesite  predominate. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Bayhorse,  Clayton  and  Slate  Creek, 
pronounced  fissure  veins  occur  closely  associated  with  dikes 
of  greenstone  that  contain  some  famous  producers  of  high 
grade  silver  lead  and  silver  copper  ore. 

The  Wood  River  formations  are  a  sharply  folded  series 
of  quartzites,  slates,  grey  limestones,  dark  shale  and  slates 
of  carboniferous  age,  associated  with  great  bodies  of  quartz 
diorite,  andesite  and  eruptive  granite  of  more  recent  date. 
This  district  is  very  extensively  fissured  and  richly  mineral- 
ized with  high  grade  silver  lead  and  some  gold  ores.  It  con- 


GEOLOGY   AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF   IDAHO.  20T 

tains  some  noted  mines  that  have  laid  dormant  for  several 
years.  Until  recent  interest  in  them  has  been  renewed  by 
the  bonanza  ore  disclosures  in  the  deep  levels  of  the  Minnie 
Moore  mine,  the  occurrence  of  which  below  a  depth  of  one 
thousand  feet  in  the  vein  lends  the  impression  that  the  ore 
resources  of  the  district  have  by  no  means  been  seriously  de- 
pleted. 

South  of  the  Snake  Elver  Plains  metamorphic  sedimen- 
taries  warp  about  the  island-like  uplift  of  diorite,  forming 
South  Mountain  in  Owyhee  County,  and  contain  large  fis- 
sured zones  of  fine  concentrating  silver  lead  ore  in  schist 
and  crystalline  limestone,  which,  while  quite  zincy,  carry 
important  compensating  values  in  gold  and  copper. 

Idaho's  Metals  and  Minerals. 

The  most  important  metal  output  of  Idaho  at  the  pres- 
ent time  is  lead,  in  the  production  of  which  this  state  excels, 
in  its  famous  Coeur  d'Alene  district,  any  other  lead  min- 
ing district  in  the  world. 

During  1903  ten  mines  in  the  Coeur  d'Alenes  produced 
something  over  a  million  tons  of  crude  ore  that  yielded  one 
hundred  thousand  tons  of  lead  bullion  and  five  million,  five 
hundred  thousand  ounces  of  silver,  showing  a  yield  largely 
increased  over  1902,  and  current  operations  indicate  a  still 
greater  yield  for  1904. 

The  Coeur  d'Alene  mines  are  operated  on  master  fissure 
veins  and  sheeted  zones  in  a  deep  series  of  metamorphic  sed- 
iment aries  of  unproven  age,  consisting  of  sharply  folded 
quartzites  and  slated  siliceous  argillaceous  rock  called  grey- 
wack,  closely  resembling  the  extensive  development  of  sim- 
ilar formations  in  Lemhi  County  which  are  thought  to  be 
pre-cambrian.  Limestone  is  entirely  wanting  and  intrusive 
dike  rocks  are  scarce.  This,  together  with  the  deep  seated 
fissure  character  of  its  deposits,  gives  the  district  an  indi- 
viduality different  from  that  of  any  other  important  lead 
producing  district  in  the  United  States. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  product  of  the  Coeur  d'Alene 
mines  is  low  grade,  but  there  are  several  notable  instances 
where  zones  of  secondary  enrichment  have  produced  a  con- 


:208  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

siderable  tonnage  of  carbonate  ores  rich  in  silver.  The 
principal  producing  ore  bodies  are  remarkable  for  their 
great  width,  lineal  extent  and  persistence  in  depth.  Several 
of  the  more  important  ore  shoots  have  been  exploited  and 
proved  to  depths  ranging  from  fifteen  hundred  to  twenty- 
five  hundred  feet  below  the  crests  on  the  dip  of  the  steep 
pitching  fissures  in  which  they  occur  with  no  deterioration 
in  volume  of  ore,  or  in  lead  or  silver  values,  nor  do  they 
show  at  those  great  depths  any  serious  increase  of  objec- 
tionable foreign  sulphides. 

Some  of  the  most  productive  ore  bodies  show  their 
highest  crest  at  considerable  depth  below  the  apex  of  the 
fissures  and  make  a  very  inconspicuous  surface  outcrop. 
The  numerous  new  properties  undergoing  active  develop- 
ment in  the  district  are  bound  to  bring  in  new  ore  bodies 
'Occasionally,  and  to  maintain  its  lead  for  years,  for  experi- 
ence teaches  that  with  the  discovery  of  a  new  ore  body  of 
uny  extent  in  this  district,  its  future  productiveness  can  be 
.about  as  definitely  figured  on  as  a  coal  deposit. 

The  principal  ore  produced  in  the  Coeur  d'Alenes  is  sil- 
ver bearing  galena  which  occurs  as  narrow  bands  of  clean 
mineral  along  the  planes  of  movement  in  the  vein  and  dis- 
seminated through  the  sheeted  and  shattered  quartzose 
rock,  there  being  comparatively  little  true  quartz  or  other 
gangue  minerals  with  the  ore  in  the  veins.  The  common 
accessory  minerals  are  zinc  blend,  iron  spar  and  pyrite. 
Grey  copper,  chalcopyrite  and  barite  have  been  noticed 
.sparingly  in  some  of  the  mines.  There  are  several  exten- 
sive ore  bodies  in  the  district,  at  present  not  being  worked, 
thai  carry  an  excess  of  zinc  and  pyrite  associated  with  the 
lead,  but  the  bulk  of  the  concentrates  now  shipped  from 
the  district  are  remarkably  clean  and  practically  free  from 
objectionable  percentages  of  zinc. 

Other  Sources  of  Lead  Ore. 

At  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Pend  d'Orille,  in  Kootenai 
Oounty,  in  a  formation  of  limestone  and  quartzite,  a  great 
lode  of  good  grade  concentrating  lead  ore,  ten  to -fifty  feet 
wide,  has  been  developed  to  the  extent  of  several  thousand 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF  IDAHO.  209 

feet  of  tunnel  work.  Still  further  north,  near  Port  Hill, 
the  Idaho  Continental  mine  has  been  developed  on  a  wide 
fissure  vein  said  to  show  thirty  feet  of  good  concentrating 
galena  lead  ore  of  good  grade,  and  also  to  carry  a  pay 
streak  one  to  three  feet  of  clean  mineral  worth  sixty  per 
cent,  lead  and  thirty  ounces  silver  per  ton. 

Between  1882  and  1887,  the  Viola  mine  at  Mcholia, 
near  the  southeastern  corner  of  Lemhi  County,  produced 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  tons  of  ore  that  yielded  at 
the  rate  of  sixty  per  cent,  lead  and  twelve  ounces  of  silver 
per  ton  from  a  single  lens  shaped  body  of  clean  sand  car- 
bonate mineral,  that  was  one  thousand  feet  long,  five  to 
seventy  feet  thick,  and  was  followed  on  a  flat  dip  for  nearly 
two  hundred  feet,  where  it  merged  into  a  body  of  soft 
brown  iron  gossan  ore,  fifty  feet  thick,  all  carrying  a  little 
lead,  in  which  condition  it  has  laid  idle  ever  since,  an  inter- 
esting possibility  of  the  recurrence  of  a  similar  monster 
lead  ore  body  at  further  depth  below  the  iron  gossan.  This 
deposit  is  in  blue  limestone  near  a  quartzite  contact.  It 
has  recently  gotten  into  the  hands  of  some  successful  min- 
ing people  and  is  likely  to  be  extensively  developed  in  the 
near  future. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  Birch  Creek  Valley  in  one  of 
the  lofty  limestone  ranges,  previously  described,  there  are 
dozens  of  handsome  silver  lead  prospects  extending  along 
a  wide  belt  of  very  favorable  formations  for  a  distance  of 
fifteen  miles  on  the  northeastern  slope  of  the  range,  several 
of  which  have  shipping  ore,  and  from  recent  reports,  the 
Gilmore  mine,  near  the  center  of  this  belt,  is  assuming 
bonanza  proportions.  It  has  developed  an  ore  body  in 
limestone  about  two  hundred  feet  deep  by  three  hundred 
feet  in  length,  and  by  two  to  fifteen  feet  thick,  that  is 
largely  of  shipping  value.  The  owners  are  at  the  present 
time  giving  steady  employment  to  fifteen  heavy  freight 
teams  hauling  the  ore  to  the  railroad,  eighty-five  miles  dis- 
tant (but  over  one  of  the  finest  natural  roads  in  the  world) 
from  where  it  is  shipped  to  the  Salt  Lake  Valley  smelters. 
The  ore  is  lead  carbonate  sprinkled  with  galena,  and  is 
shipped  direct  from  the  mine  without  milling  and  carries 


210  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

average  values  of  between  fifty  and  sixty  per  cent,  lead, 
thirty  to  forty  ounces  of  silver  and  one  to  two  dollars  of 
gold  per  ton.  The  ores  of  this  district  occur  both  as  fissure 
veins  and  contact  deposits  and  for  extensive  development 
it  promises  a  resource  of  ore  that  may  justify  railway  trans- 
portation at  no  distant  date. 

The  principal  silver  lead  mines  of  Ouster  County  at 
Bayhorse,  Clayton,  Squaw  Creek  and  Slate  Creek,  which 
have  only  been  worked  in  a  desultory  manner  since  1890, 
are  likely  to  soon  again  become  active  producers  under  a 
merger  of  interest  that  is  .being  negotiated. 

These  mines  have  a  bullion  record  of  something  like 
|10,000,000.00  and  have  lead  and  silver  ore  reserves  now 
in  sight  estimated  at  $3,000,000.00. 

The  Minnie  Moore  mine  at  Bellevue,  in  the  Wood  River 
District,  after  being  practically  abandoned  as  worked  out 
and  left  for  twelve  years,  was  taken  hold  of  by  more  enter- 
prising spirits  who  have  been  operating  in  bonanza  ore 
from  the  nine  hundred  to  the  eleven  hundred-foot  level, 
shipping  for  a  good  part  of  the  time  during  the  past 
eighteen  months  from  fifteen  to  thirty  cars  per  month  of 
crude  ore  and  concentrates  that  have  averaged  fifty  to  sev- 
enty per  cent,  lead  and  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty  ounces  of  silver  per  ton.  The  successful  reopening 
of  this  old  bonanza,  which  is  the  deepest  mine  in  the  dis- 
trict and  had  a  previous  record  of  $7,000,000.00  production, 
has  strengthened  the  faith  of  other  operators  in  the  field 
and  a  good  deal  of  intelligent  development  work  is  in  pro- 
gress with  definite  prospects  of  other  rich  ore  disclosures 
of  considerable  extent. 

The  South  Mountain  mines  contain  a  very  extensive  re- 
source of  fine  concentrating  lead  ore  containing  a  good 
deal  of  zinc,  but  also  very  important  values  in  both  silver, 
gold  and  some  copper,  a  combination,  very  much  resembling 
the  ores  of  Park  City,  Utah,  and  while  this  district  is  at 
present  somewhat  remote  from  railway  transportation,  the 
rapidly  growing  demand  for  the  metals,  together  with  its 
natural  geographical  advantage,  will  naturally  bring  it 
into  market  before  very  long. 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OP  IDAHO. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  principal  lead  silver  bearing  dis- 
tricts in  the  metamorphic  rocks  of  Idaho,  whose  develop- 
ment will  assist  the  Coeur  d'Alenes  to  maintain  this  state's 
present  prestige  in  the  matter  of  lead  production  indefi- 
nitely. 

Gold. 
I 
Idaho  first  came  into  prominence  as  a  gold  producer 

by  the  discovery  of  rich  placer  diggings  on  the  North  Fork 
of  the  Clearwater  Kiver  in  1860,  at  a  place  called  Pierce 
City,  now  situated  near  the  southern  end  of  Shoshone 
County.  From  there  the  hardy  pioneers  extended  their 
search  over  the  rugged  intermountain  sections  of  the  state, 
resulting  in  the  discovery  of  a  dozen  other  districts  that 
subsequently  became  famous  producers. 

According  to  conservative  estimates,  the  placer  dis- 
tricts of  Idaho,  from  discovery  to  date,  have  produced  gold 
bullion  to  the  total  value  of  |200,000,000.00,  and  while  the 
rich  and  easily  available  diggings  are  practically  ex- 
hausted, the  placer  product  from  deeper  ground  that  has 
been  equipped  with  modern  machinery  at  several  points  in 
the  state,  amounted  to  over  forty  per  cent,  of  the  $2,000,- 
000.00  worth  of  gold  produced  by  Idaho  mines  in  1903. 

A  most  interesting  feature  of  the  occurrence  of  these 
placer  deposits,  from  the  northern  end  of  Shoshone  County 
to  the  district  around  Silver  City  south  of  the  Snake  Eiver 
is,  that  they  are  almost  invariably  confined  to  the  granite 
formations.  The  most  extensive  and  productive  placer  dis- 
trict in  the  state  was  that  of  Idaho  Basin,  forty  miles  north 
of  Boise  City,  the  state's  capital,  which  alone  is  credited 
with  an  output  of  $100,000,000.00. 

The  chief  source  of  the  lode  or  vein  gold  produced  by 
Idaho  mines  in  the  past  has  been  from  the  mines  of  the 
Yankee  Fork,  Atlanta,  Rocky  Bar,  Silver  City  and  DeLa- 
mar  districts.  These  mines  are  of  the  Comstock  type,  true 
fissure  veins  in  volcanic  formations  of  Tertiary  age,  contain- 
ing rich  gold  and  silver  bearing  silicious  milling  ores.  Their 
combined  output  to  date  may  be  conservatively  estimated 
at  $100,000,000.00,  of  which  probably  $50,000^000.00  was 


212  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICANA  MINING  CONGRESS. 

gold  and  the  balance  silver.  The  mines  of  these  districts 
have  continued  in  more  or  less  continuous  production  for 
forty -two  years.  Three  of  them,  the  Trade  Dollar  Company 
and  DeLamar  in  Owyhee  County,  and  the  Lucky  Boy  at  Cus- 
ter  City,  Custer  County,  produced  gold  and  silver  bullion  of 
the  coinage  value  of  f  1,663,000.00  during  1903.  In  the  light 
of  modern  mining  experience,  the  many  evidences  of  mineral 
still  remaining  in  these  famous  old  districts,  together  with 
the  cheaper  methods  of  milling,  now  in  vogue,  make  it  safe 
.  to  predict  that  they  will  continue  to  produce  an  important 
yield  of  precious  bullion  for  some  years  to  come. 

The  production  of  gold  in  Idaho,  especially  from  origi- 
nal ore  sources,  and  as  a  bi-product  from  the  treatment  of 
other  ores,  is  destined  to  increase  very  rapidly  and  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  sensational  disclosures  may  be  made  in  some 
of  the  more  remote  districts  such  as  have  characterized  the 
gold  mining  history  of  Colorado. 

Rich  gold-bearing  tellurium  ores  are  reported  from  sev- 
eral districts  in  this  state,  but  the  writer  has  only  seen  this 
mineral  in  one  of  them,  at  Elk  City,  in  Idaho  County,  where 
it  occurs  in  bunches  associated  with  rich  gold-bearing  pyr- 
ites in  a  ten-foot  fissure  of  white  quartz  accompanied  by  a 
small  porphyry  dike  in  walls  of  Archaean  Gneiss.  The  tellu- 
rium ore  was  of  the  variety  petzite  and  occurred  near  the 
water  level.  Above  that  level  the  vein  was  oxidized  and 
was  very  successfully  operated  during  1903,  producing  bull- 
ion to  the  value  of  about  |75,000.00,  with  a  ten-stamp  mill. 
Several  districts  in  the  granite  and  porphyry  formations 
further  south  are  rich  in  fluorite  and  fluorspar,  the  common 
associations  of  tellurides.  In  many  instances  these  districts 
have  been  very  imperfectly  prospected  and  favorable  infer- 
ences may  be  drawn  from  these  conditions  for  the  future 
discovery  of  rich  gold  ore  deposits. 

The  principal  increase  in  gold  bullion  production  in 
this  state,  however,  will  come  from  its  extensive  deposits  of 
medium  and  low  grade  ores  and  from  its  low  lying  placer 
beds  that  are  being  equipped  with  hydraulic  and  dredging 
machinery,  several  plants  of  which  have  been  installed  or 
are  in  prospect. 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF  IDAHO.  213 

The  Buffalo  Hump  District  in  Idaho  County  gives  defi- 
nite evidence  of  being  able  to  increase  the  gold  output  of 
the  state  at  no  distant  date  by  $1,000,000.00  per  year.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  promising  gold  districts  in  the  West.  The 
Hump  is  a  hog-back  elevation  of  eruptive  grey  granite 
eighty-eight  hundred  feet  in  elevation  and  the  highest  point, 
is  a  densely  timbered  region  of  broad  granite  ridges  and 
deep-cut  canyons  fifty  miles  square. 

This  district  is  traversed  by  a  well  defined  system  of 
large  gold-bearing  quartz-filled  fissures  that  carry  pay  ore 
in  bodies  five  to  twenty  feet  wide  and  in  places  several  hun- 
dred feet  long. 

The  Jumbo  mine,  originally  not  considered  one  of  the 
best  surface  showings,  but  cropping  in  the  walls  of  a  deep 
cut  canyon  lent  itself  to  ready  development  by  adit  tunnels, 
of  which  it  has  three,  exposing  two  ore  shoots  to  an  ex- 
treme depth  of  five  hundred  and  twenty  feet  by  an  aggre- 
gate length  of  five  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  from  five  to 
seventeen  feet  wide,  of  ten  to  twelve  dollars  average  gold 
values,  and  has  a  fourth  adit  under  construction  that  prom- 
ises to  double  the  present  ore  reserves. 

This  property  has  practically  paid  for  its  own  develop- 
ment with  a  four-stamp  prospecting  mill.  It  is  now  equipped 
with  a  twenty-four-stamp  mill  that  has  been  in  operation 
since  January  1st,  producing  from  twelve  thousand  to  fif- 
teen thousand  dollars  in  bullion  per  month,  and  piling  up 
tailings  values  of  about  seven  thousand  dollars  per  month 
to  be  handled  by  cyaniding. 

The  Cracker  Jack  mine  in  the  same  district  is  operating 
a  ten-stamp  mill  on  an  ore  body  that  is  ten  to  twenty  feet 
wide  and  several  hundred  feet  long,  of  a  little  better  grade 
than  the  Jumbo. 

The  fissures  of  this  district  are  usually  nearly  vertical 
with  clean  cut  walls  frequently  beautifully  polished.  True 
dike  rocks  are  rare,  but  veins  and  irregular  segregations  of 
coarse  pegmatite  and  inclusions  of  schist  are  common.  The 
filling  of  the  ore  shoots  is  ribbony  to  massive  white  quartz, 
usually  well  sprinkled  with  iron  sulphides,  together  with 
some  copper  and  lead  sulphides.  The  lead,  as  in  most  other 


214  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

Idaho  granite  gold  districts,  usually  indicates  higher  gold 
values.  These  ores,  as  far  as  treated,  yield  from  forty  to 
sixty  per  cent,  of  their  gross  value  to  plate  amalgamation 
and  a  high  percentage  of  the  balance  can  be  recovered  by 
concentration  and  cyaniding.  There  are  a  number  of  prop- 
erties undergoing  development  in  this  district  at  the  present 
time,  and  as  a  rapidly  increasing  source  of  gold  bullion,  its 
future  is  assured. 

The  Elk  City  Placer  District,  north  of  Buffalo  Hump, 
is  developing  some  good  mines  and  produced  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  quartz  gold  last  year  and  has  an 
exceedingly  promising  future. 

The  Big  Creek  District,  thirty  miles  north  of  Thunder 
Mountain,  has  some  monster  fissure  veins  and  contact  de- 
posits in  granite,  white  porphyry  and  metamorphic  rocks, 
that  are  being  quite  actively  developed,  and  are  reported  to 
be  showing  fine  paying  values  in  widths  varying  from  ten/ 
to  two  hundred  feet. 

At  Thunder  Mountain  the  gold  occurs  in  sheeted  flows 
of  pyritic  rhyolite  and  volcanic  tuff.  The  Thunder  Mountain 
Company's  property  has  been  successfully  operated  during 
the  past  year  with  a  light  ten-stamp  mill.  Several  thousand 
feet  of  development  has  been  done  in  this  district  during  the 
past  year  and  the  values  found  under  ground  are  said  to  far 
exceed  the  surface  indications.  The  completion  of  the  State 
Wagon  Koad  to  Thunder  Mountain  is  promised  by  Septem- 
ber of  this  year  and  a  large  amount  of  machinery  is  already 
headed  into  the  district  from  the  railroad. 

At  Indian  Creek,  in  Lemhi  County,  the  Kitty  Burton 
Mining  Company  completed  a  thirty-stamp  mill  last  fall 
wihich  has  since  been  in  successful  operation,  producing  gold 
bullion  of  the  net  value  of  from  fifteen  thousand  to  eighteen 
thousand  dollars  a  month.  This  mine  is  operated  on  a  con- 
tact vein,  five  to  twenty  feet  wide,  of  granular  quartz  carry- 
ing from  f 5  to  $20  gold  per  ton  and  yields  a  high  percentage 
of  its  value  to  plate  amalgamation  and  tailings  values  yield- 
ing readily  to  cyaniding.  The  formation  is  a  schisty  quart - 
zose  rock,  and  the  vein  is  accompanied  by  a  small  dike  of 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF   IDAHO.  215 

feldsite  porphyry.  The  surrounding  district  has  many  prom- 
ising prospects. 

The  recent  discoveries  at  Loon  Creek,  in  Ouster  County, 
promise  an  important  new  source  of  gold.  The  Lost  Packer 
mine  has  developed  an  extensive  reserve  of  rich  gold-bear- 
ing chalcopyrite  ore.  It  shipped  five  carloads  last  year 
which  averaged  eight  ounces  gold  and  ten  per  cent,  copper 
per  ton.  The  owners  of  this  property  are  constructing  and 
extending  a  wagon  road  into  this  district,  twenty-five  miles 
from  Custer  City,  and  are  anticipating  a  big  production  in 
the  near  future. 

The  Lost  Packer  mine  is  opened  by  adit  tunnels  on  a 
nearly  vertical  fissure  that  crosses  a  deep  canon  in  a  forma- 
tion of  eruptive  granite  and  grey  porphyry.  The  vein  is 
from  five  to  twenty  feet  wide  of  milling  ore,  and  carries  pay 
streaks  one  to  three  feet  wide  of  almost  clean  chalcopyrite 
that  also  contains  a  sprinkling  of  bismuth  sulphide  and  in- 
variably runs  high  in  gold,  up  to  ten  ounces  per  ton.  The 
Loon  Creek  District  is  richly  mineralized  and  is  attracting 
a  great  deal  of  attention  at  the  present  time. 

The  Valley  Creek  Mine,  twenty-five  miles  south  of  the 
Loon  Creek  District,  has  recently  been  equipped  with  a 
twenty-stamp  mill  and  cyanide  plant.  This  mine  is  opened 
on  a  monster  fissure  in  granite  associated  with  large  dikes 
of  porphyry.  Its  ore  bodies  are  as  much  as  thirty  feet  wide, 
containing  average  gold  values  of  eight  to  twelve  dollars 
per  ton  and  the  amount  of  ore  now  exposed  is  said  to  exceed 
a  third  of  a  million  dollars  in  gross  value. 

On  the  opposite  slope  of  the  Saw  Tooth  Range  in  Elaine 
County,  the  Hailey  District  has  a  gold  belt  of  no  mean  im- 
portance. The  Creosus  Mine,  within  four  miles  of  Hailey, 
is  being  developed  with  a  three  compartment  vertical  shaft 
to.be  1,000  feet  deep  and  has  already  reached  the  700  foot 
level. 

This  is  nearly  vertical  fissure  in  diorite  following  a 
narrow  dike  of  andesite.  It  is  as  much  as  forty  feet  wide, 
in  certain  shoots,  of  concentrating  pyrrhotite  and  chalcopy- 
rite ore,  said  to  carry  average  gold  values  of  from  five  to 
fifteen  dollars  per  ton  and  often  carrying  pay  streaks  of 


216  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

clean  sulphide  ore  that  runs  several  ounces  in  gold.  This 
straight  gold  copper  ore  mine  has  had  the  remarkable  ex- 
perience of  developing  a  considerable  body  of  high  grade 
lead  silver  ore  in  its  lower  levels,  which  would  indicate  that 
the  extensive  field  of  diorite  and  eruptive  granite  is  in  part, 
at  least,  an  overflow  or  overthrust  and  is  underlaid  with 
the  lead-silver  bearing  Wood  River  series  that  bound  it  to 
the  north  and  east. 

A  few  miles  west  of  the  Creosus  in  the  eruptive  granite 
of  the  Hailey  gold  belt  proper,  the  Tip  Top  Mine  is  the 
deepest  shaft  developed  gold  mine  in  the  state.  It  has  been 
explored  to  a  depth  of  1,100  feet  on  a  steep  pitching~fissure 
vein  accompanied  with  a  small  basic  dike  and  developed  its 
largest  and  richest  ore  body  at  and  below  the  900  foot  level 
which  is  five  feet  wide  and  several  hundred  feet  long,  and 
is  said  to  contain  an  average  value  of  nearly  an  ounce  of 
gold  per  ton.  The  ore  is  a  white  quartz,  well  sprinkled  with 
pyrites. ,  The  property  has  elaborate  equipment,  including 
a  fine  mill  and  should  contribute  an  important  output  of 
gold  in  the  near  future. 

Another  important  gold  ore  development  of  Elaine 
County  is  now  being  made  at  the  Liberal  Mine  in  the  Little 
Smoky  District,  where  some  large  contact  bodies  of  gold 
bearing  iron  pyrite  ore  are  being  exposed  in  walls  of  granite 
and  porphyry  and  are  exhibiting  the  evidences  of  a  very 
extensive  reserve  of  pay  mineral  which  will  justify  deep  de- 
velopment and 'a,  large  mill. 

The  entire  drainage  basin  of  the  Boise  River,  includ- 
ing the  Pearl  District,  is  on  the  low  divide  between  the 
Boise  and  Payette  Rivers,  and  all  conveniently  accessible 
from  Boise  City,  presents  one  of  the  most  extensive  and 
most  promising  fields  for  gold  mining  investments  in  the 
West. 

This  great  field,  which  includes  among  its  districts, 
Idaho  Basin,  Rocky  Bar  and  Atlanta,  has  produced  gold 
constantly  since  1862,  and  a  total  amount  which  would  be 
equal  to  an  annual  yield  of  about  f  2,000,000  a  year  if  equally 
distributed  over  the  whole  period  of  production.  The  indus- 
try has  been  at  a  low  ebb  for  several  years,  but  has  picked 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF  IDAHO.  217 

up  lately  and  the  disclosures  recently  made  in  some  of  its 
old  districts,  as  well  as  in  new  discoveries  in  its  virgin  fields, 
are  such  as  to  warrant  the  anticipation  that  it  may  again 
assume  the  importance  of  its  palmiest  days  as  a  gold  pro- 
ducer, for  while  its  rich  placer  deposits  are  about  exhausted, 
it  has  gold-bearing  vein  croppings  containing  pay  values  at 
the  surface  and  invariably  of  tiie  granite  and  porphyry  con- 
tact or  fissure  class,  by  the  thousand. 

The  ores  of  this  field  at  a  comparatively  shallow  depth 
are  generally  more  or  less  base,  that  is,  the  gold  is  found 
associated  with  iron  pyrites  and  also  often  with  a  light 
sprinkling  of  lead,  zinc  and  antimony  sulphides.  This  con- 
dition is  largely  responsible  together  with  inadequate  capi- 
tal, misrepresentation  and  mismanagement  for  a  number 
of  small  mining  failures. 

In  comparison  with  the  extensive  development  that  has 
been  necessary  for  successful  mining  in  many  other  western 
fields,  the  Boise  Eiver  region  has  barely  been  scratched, 
and  its  most  promising  districts  worked  in  a  half-hearted 
manner  where  manifest  evidences  of  great  ore  resources 
exist. 

The  Checkmate  Mine  at  Pearl  was  worked  by  its  former 
owners  to  a  depth  of  500  feet  by  sinking  one  level  at  a  time, 
gouging  out  the  ore,  then  sinking  another,  and  so  on.  This 
mine  is  reported,  from  good  authority,  to  have  produced  ap- 
proximately |100,000  in  gold  for  each  level,  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful  if  the  method  of  operation  employed  was  very  profitable. 
The  property  carries  four  or  five  parallel  fissure  veins  of 
about  equal  surface  strength.  All  the  work  was  confined 
to  one  and  its  ore  bodies  expanded  from  sixty  feet  at  the 
surface  level  to  five  hundred  feet  in  length  at  the  fifth  level, 
by  an  average  width  of  something  like  four  feet  and  an 
average  value  of  about  $10  per  ton.  This  property  has 
come  into  new  hands  within  the  past  year  and  its  develop- 
ment is  being  undertaken  on  a  broader  plan. 

The  Lincoln  Mine  on  the  same  belt,  has  been  under  de- 
velopment for  three  years  for  a  total  depth  of  300  feet,  and 
has  a  remarkable  showing  of  pay  mineral  conservatively 
estimated  at  $500,000  in  sight. 


218  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

This  mine  is  opened  on  a  sheeted  fissure  zone  of  altered 
and  mineralized  granite.  It  has  exposed  an  ore  shoot  of  dis- 
seminated and  banded  sulphide  mineral  which  is  from  two 
to  twenty  feet  wide  and  continues  along  the  strike  for  1,100 
feet,  carrying  an  average  gold  value  of  from  $8  to  $10,  and 
occasionally  pay  streaks  of  clean  mineral  a  foot  or  more 
thick  which  run  three  to  eight  ounces  of  gold.  This  mine 
has  recently  put  into  commission  a  six-foot  Chilian  mill 
and  is  reducing  about  150  tons  of  ore  daily. 

At  Quartzburg,  the  Gold  Hill  and  Pioneer  claims  have 
been  worked  to  a  total  depth  of  400  feet  and  have  exhibited 
almost  continuous  ore  for  1,500  feet  in  length. 

This  property  is  idle  at  the  present  time.  It  was 
equipped  with  an  old  fashioned  hand-fed  mill  that  was  run 
almost  constantly  for  twenty-five  years,  prior  to  1894,  and 
was  subsequently  destroyed  by  fire.  This  property  is  cred- 
ited with  a  total  production  of  $3,000,000.  The  ore  was  a 
gold-bearing  iron  pyrite  in  a  shattered  fissure  zone  in  a  por- 
phyry and  in  bodies  ten  to  forty  feet  wide,  worth  $6  to  $10 
per  ton,  and  in  small  contact  vein  between  porphyry  and 
granite,  one  to  six  feet  wide,  carving  much  higher  values. 
About  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  ore  was  savable  as 
free  gold,  and  the  only  method  of  keeping  track  of  the  values 
in  thousands  of  tons  of  tailings  which  were  allowed  to  run 
to  waste,  was  the  gold  pan,  as  there  never  was  an  assay 
outfit  on  the  ground. 

At  Neal,  fifteen  miles  east  of  Boise,  the  Golden  Eagle 
Mine  is  opened  on  a  mineralized  fissure  zone  in  granite  re- 
sembling the  Lincoln  at  Pearl.  It  has  1,000  feet  of  actual 
development  work  from  which  $40,000  worth  of  ore  has  been 
shipped  and  included  several  carloads  which  sampled  over 
five  ounces  of  gold  per  ton.  The  pay  ore  in  this  mine  is  from 
five  to  twenty-eight  feet  wide  and  its  development  consists 
of  a  300-foot  incline  shaft  and  three  short  levels. 

The  Monarch  Mine,  at  Atlanta,  after  lying  idle  for  a 
number  of  years,  was  taken  up  two  years  ago  by  some  Colo- 
rado operators.  It  has  since  been  undergoing  systematic 
development  with  the  result  of  putting  in  sight  a  very  ex- 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF  IDAHO.  219 

tensive  reserve  of  good  pay  ore  and  proving  the  inadequacy 
of  its  former  development  and  exploitation. 

The  Franklin  Mine,  at  Pine,  which  was  equipped  with  a 
ten-stamp  mill  and  through  poor  management  was  aban- 
doned and  left  idle  for  ten  years  as  a  deserted  failure,  until 
tAvo  years  ago  when  it  was  taken  hold  of  by  more  intelligent 
hands  and  has  produced  bullion  to  the  value  of  $150,000 
with  the  same  old  stamp  mill  within  the  past  eighteen 
months,  and  at  this  date  has  an  ore  reserve  estimated  at 
half  a  million  dollars. 

Twenty  miles  north  of  Atlanta,  on  a  tributary  of  the 
Middle  Fork  of  the  Boise  Kiver,  a  new  district  called  Black 
Warrior,  is  showing  up  some  very  fine  surface  ores.  Numer- 
ous specimens  are  being  sent  in,  and  in  some  instances  moss 
covered  and  well  sprinkled  with  visible  native  gold,  said  to 
be  taken  from  the  croppings  of  great  contact  veins  of  quartz 
five  to  fifty  feet  wide,  in  walls  of  granite  and  porphyry,  and 
carry  ing  ipay  streaks  of  a  foot  to  eight  or  ten  feet  wide  which 
sample  f  10  to  f  30  per  ton. 

Such  are  some  of  the  more  promising  features  of  the 
Boise  gold  fields.  Its  numerous  ore  deposits,  invariably  of 
the  fissure  class,  have  been  developed  to  a  very  limited  ex- 
tent. In  depth  they  vary  from  a  simple  fissure  filled  with  a 
narrow  band  of  quartz  to  a  wide  fault  fissure  zone  of  min- 
eralized country  rock  of  the  Lincoln  type  of  which  there  are 
'several  in  the  field  which  bear  all  the  structural  evidences 
in  their  shallow  horizons  of  continuing  and  carrying  their 
values  to  great  depth  and  producing  millions  of  tons  of  pay 

ore. 

The  Silver  City  De  Lamar  District. 

This  district  is  situated  in  the  Owyhee  Range,  its  veins 
are  not  very  large,  but  they  are  rich  and  very  persistent 
in  length  and  depth.  They  occur  as  nearly  vertical  fissures 
cutting  eruptive  granite  and  surface  flows  of  tertiary  basalt 
and  rhyolite. 

The  Trade  Dollar  Consolidated  Vein  has  been  operated 
for  twelve  years  and  has  produced  f  10,000,000  worth  of  gold 
and  silver,  of  which  two-thirds  was  silver.  Its  connected  un- 
derground developments  extend  along  the  strike  of  the 


220  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

vein  for  two  miles  in  an  extreme  depth  of  1,700  feet.  The 
mine  is  in  successful  operation  at  the  present  time  and  pro- 
duced bullion  to  the  gross  value  of  about  $500,000  during 
1903-. 

Four  miles  below  the  Trade  Dollar  Vein  on  the  same 
creek,  the  DeLamar  Mine  has  been  developed  on  a  close 
parallel  system  of  fissures  in  rhyolite  which  seemed  to  cut 
off  or  stop  at  a  blue  clay  fault  plane  where  the  ore  shoots 
had  attained  their  greatest  width  and  richest  values.  That 
these  ore  shoots  received  their  pregnant  solutions  from  this 
fault  plane  seems  most  unlikely,  arid  that  they  may  be 
picked  up  on  the  opposite  side  of  this  rather  obscure  dis- 
placement in  all  the  glory  of  their  former  bonanza  values 
is  one  of  the  possibilities  of  extensive  development  along 
that  line.  The  mine  is  still  in  successful  operation,  has  large 
reserves  of  low-grade  ore  and  yielded  f  300,000  in  1903,  over 
ninety  per  cent,  of  which  was  gold.  This  mine  is  credited 
with  a  total  yield  up  to  date  of  f  8,500,000. 

This  district  has  many  geological  features  in  common 
With  Cripple  Creek,  Colorado.  It  contains  a  number  of  fine 
prospects  and  its  partially  developed  properties  carry  rich 
surface  values  and  warrant  extensive  development. 

Silver. 

The  chief  source  of  supply  of  the  white  metal  in  Idaho 
is  as  an  associated  value  in  lead  ores  of  the  Coeur  d'Alenes,  * 
Wood  River,  and  from  the  Trade  Dollar  Consolidated  Mine 
at  Silver  City,  the  latter  being  the  largest  producer  of  any 
rnine  in  the  state  in  which  silver  is  the  principal  product 
sought.  The  output  of  this  mine  alone  during  the  year  1903 
amounted  to  about  700,000  ounces.  The  normal  increase 
of  the  Coeur  d'Alene  mines  this  year  together  with  a  largely 
increased  yield  from  the  Minnie  Moore  Mine  at  Wood  River, 
whic/i  for  several  months  has  been  shipping  900  to  1,100 
tons  of  ore  per  month  worth  from  fifty  to  seventy  per  cent, 
lead  and  seventy  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  ounces  of  sil- 
ver per  ton,  together  with  an  important  yield  from  the  big 
copper  smelters  of  the  White  Knob  Copper  Company  at 
Mackay,  and  an  important  new  source  of  lead  silver  ore  now 


GEOLOGY   AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF  IDAHO.  221 

going  to  market  from  the  Gilmore  Mine  in  Lemhi  County, 
give  definite  evidence  of  an  increase  of  fully  two  million 
ounces  for  the  state  for  the  year  1904. 

One  of  the  largest  silver  mines  in  the  state  is  the  Barns- 
horn  at  Bay  Horse,  Ouster  Oounty,  which  has  been  idle  for 
several  years.  This  mine  is  a  true  fissure  in  slate  that 
strikes  due  north  and  south  and  dips  west  at  fifty  degrees. 
It  has  produced  silver  to  the  value  of  $2,000,000  in  the  past, 
has  ten  miles  of  connected  underground  development .  and 
ore  reserves  now  blocked  out  containing  about  three  million, 
ounces.  The  ore  is  a  grey  copper  in  a  gangue  of  iron  spar. 
This  mine  is  adjacent  to  a  rich  silver-lead  district  and  a 
merger  of  interests  is  being  negotiated  that  is  likely  to 
bring  this  mine  and  district  into  heavy  production  again 
within  a  year. 

Copper. 

Tihe  copper  resources  of  Idaho  are  varied  and  extensive. 
This  state  is  destined  to  become  a  very  heavy  producer  of 
the  red  metal  at  no  distant  date.  Many  of  our  largest  cop- 
per ore  deposits  are  situated  at  considerable  distance  from 
railway  transportation,  which  fact  has  retarded  their  de- 
velopment, but  engineers  and  investors  are  commencing  to 
appreciate  the  fact  that  the  present  enormous  consumption 
of,  and  rapidly  increasing  demand  for  copper,  is  more  than 
keeping  pace  with  its  production  and  development.  The 
larger  bodies  of  copper  ore  in  the  remote  districts  of  Idaho 
are  already  attracting  investors  with  a  view  of  future  de- 
mands. Idaho's  copper  ores  are  invariably  associated  wit  h 
important  values  in  gold  and  silver,  especially  gold  which 
together  with  the  natural  economic  advantages  that  usually 
surround  them  in  the  way  of  water  for  power,  timber  and 
tunneling  advantages,  will  afford  important  aids  and  in- 
ducements to  their  exploitation. 

The  principal  source  of  copper  bullion  in  Idaho  at  pres- 
ent is  from  the  property  of  the  White  Knob  Copper  Com- 
pany at  Mackay,  in  Ouster  County.  This  property  is  equipped 
with  a  large  new  smelting  plant  which  has  been  run  with 
little  intermission  since  the  first  of  the  year,  treating  from 


222  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

300  to  600  tons  of  crude  ore  a  day  which  yields  high  grade 
matte  containing  good  gold  and  silver  values. 

The  steep  pitching  ore  bodies  of  the  White  Knob  prop- 
erty are  of  immense  size.  They  occur  in  contact  with  blue 
limestone  and  big  porphyry  dikes  and  have  been 
continuous  for  700  feet  below  the  apex,  showing  their 
best  values  at  the  deepest  point  cut  by  a  cross-cut  tunnel 
where  the  earthy  red  oxides  and  green  carbonates  are, 
changing  to  blue  and  yellow  sulphides.  A  new  tunnel  is  now) 
well  under  way  which  will  tap  tn*e  ore  courses  1,600  feet 
from  the  surface,  which,  from  present  evidences,  should  be 
well  within  the  sulphide  zone  and  afford  an  important  in- 
crease in  copper  values.  The  ores  now  being  treated  carry 
values  of  from  two  to  five  per  cent,  in  copper  and  from  f  1- 
to  f 2  per  ton  in  gold  and  silver.  The  Mackay  Copper  Belt 
is  quite  extensive  and  carries  numerous  very  promising  de- 
posits. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  lead  mining  is  so  much,  in  fashion 
in  the  Ooeur  d'Alenes,  a  remarkably  promising  copper  belt 
that  traverses  the  mountains  just  east  of  Wallace  and  Mul- 
len, has  been  neglected  and  warrants  much  more  extensive 
development  than  it  has  so  for  received.  The  Snowstorm 
Mine,  near  Mullen,  has  been  steadily  producing  quite  a  large 
tonnage  of  copper  ore  during  the  year,  which  is  shipped 
to  the  coast  smelters.  This  property  is  also  installing  an 
extensive  leaching  plant  for  treating  its  extensive  reserves 
of  surface  carbonate  ores. 

The  veins  of  this  belt  are  great  copper-bearing  gossan 
iron-filled  fissures,  which  can  be  traced  for  thousands  of 
feet.  They  are  on  a  par  in  size  with  some  of  the  big  lead 
veins  and  in  several  instances  have  been  developed  down  to 
where  the  massive  variegated  sulphide  ores  are  commenc- 
ing to  show.  Other  very  likely  copper  properties  occur 
along  the  tributaries  of  the  North  Fork  and  it  is  safe  to 
predict  that  copper  is  destined  to  become  an  important 
factor  in  the  total  bullion  output  of  this  remarkably  rich  and 
varied  mineral  field. 

The  Seven  Devils  Range  and  Health  Districts  in  Wash- 
ington county  contain  some  very  extensive  deposits  of  gold 


GEOLOGY   AND   MINERAL   RESOURCES   OP   IDAHO.  223 

and  silver-bearing  copper  ore  and  a  matting  plant  was 
quite  successfully  operated  by  the  Ladd  Metals  Company 
during  the  first  half  of  this  year  on  their  properties  at 
Mineral  on  the  Snake  Kiver.  The  same  company  is  now 
erecting  a  sixty-ton  plant  at  Landor  in  the  heart  of  the 
Seven  Devils  copper  district,  where  extensive  reserves  of 
ore  have  been  developed. 

The  copper  ore  bodies  of  this  range  are  often  of  im- 
mense size,  ranging  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  thick. 
They  generally  occur  at  contact  with  limestone  or  slate  and 
porphyry  and  carry  average  values  of  from  three  to  five  per 
cent,  copper  and  pay  streak  values  from  two  to  ten  feet 
wide,  running  from  five  to  forty  per  cent,  copper  and  always 
associated  with  gold  and  silver  values  amounting  to  several 
dollars  per  ton. 

Lemhi  County,  in  the  east  central  part  of  the  state, 
also  has  extensive  copper  resources  which  occur  in  a  variety 
of  formations  in  several  different  districts  which  are  likely 
to  form  ti!ie  basis  of  some  very  populous  mining  communities 
when  transportation  facilities  are  afforded. 

The  Blackbird  District  in  this  county  has  had  consider- 
able development  and  contains  fully  fifty  patented  claims 
and  a  great  many  still  in  the  hands  of  the  original  locators 
that  in  many  instances  contain  very  flattering  ore  show- 
ings. 

The  ores  in  this  district  vary  from  a  pay  streak  of  rich 
ore,  six  inches  to  six  feet  wide  to  great  impregnation  zones 
of  low  grade  ore  one  hundred  feet  or  more  wide.  The  sur- 
face croppings  are  brown  oxidized  gossan  carrying  a  little 
gold  and  no  copper,  but  usually  at  fifty  feet  deep  under  the 
surface  change  to  sulphides.  The  big  bodies  run  from  two 
to  five  per  cent,  copper,  and  concentrate  to  excellent  advan- 
tage. The  concentrates  carry  a  light  percentage  of  cobalt 
and  nickel  and  usually  not  less  than  twenty-five  cents  worth 
of  gold  to  each  unit  of  copper,  but  very  little  silver.  The 
formation  of  this  district  is  mica  schist  and  granite. 

At  the  Yellow  Jacket  District,  fifteen  miles  west  of 
Blackbird,  the  Steen  Mine  exposes  a  zone  of  concentrating 
copper  sulphide  ore  in  a  shattered  quartzose  formation 


224  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

which  is  seventy  feet  thick  and  carries  three  per  cent,  cop- 
per, and  three  dollars  gold  per  ton  together  with  a  sprink- 
ling of  lead  sulphide  and  fair  silver  values. 

Some  handsome  copper  prospects  occur  at  Beaver  and 
Indian  Greeks  and  near  the  mouth  of  the  North  Fork  of  Sal- 
mon River  which  promise  to  develop  large  bodies  of  ore. 
They  occur  in  slate  and  silicious  schisty  rock. 

At  Worthington  Creek,  south  of  Salmon  City,  the  Klon- 
dike group  of  claims  carries  a  large  vein  of  gossan  iron  ore 
in  greywack.  There  is  very  little  development  on  this  prop- 
erty, but  it  has  thrown  out  a  flow  of  float  boulders  amount- 
ing to  fully  one  thousand  tons  and  some  of  them  several  feet 
square,  which  all  carry  good  copper  values  and  some  of 
them  high  grade  red  and  black  oxides. 

The  Bruce  Mines  at  Spring  Mountain  District,  near  the 
southeastern  corner  of  Lemhi  county,  are  of  the  White 
Knob  type  and  consist  of  immense  bodies  of  copper  gold- 
bearing  hematite  and  magnetic  iron  ore  in  limestone  and 
diorite.  One  shipment  from  this  property  besides  ten  per 
cent,  copper,  gave  nine  dollars  in  gold  per  ton.  All  the  cop- 
per districts  of  Lemhi  county  are  noted  for  intrusive  dike 
rocks  which  range  from  rhyolite  to  basic  hornblend  diorite 
and  at  many  points  give  definite  evidence  of  permanency 
and  large  deposits  of  ore. 

Rare  Metals. 

Idaho  is  noted  for  the  occurrence  of  rare  metals  and 
minerals,  and  while  this  branch  of  our  mining  industry  has 
not  as  yet  gotten  a  start,  the  prospects  for  profitable  min- 
ing in  this  line  are  good. 

Monazite. — This  mineral  containing  the  valuable  rare 
oxides  of  Thorium,  Cerium,  Didymium,  etc.,  is  very  prev- 
alently disseminated  through  the  old  placer  gravel  beds  of 
Idaho  Basin  and  in  the  Warren  Basin.  This  mineral  occurs 
as  a  yellow  sand  in  about  the  same  proportion  as  black  mag- 
netic iron  sand  occurs  in  most  other  diggings.  It  is  de- 
rived from  the  disintegration  of  the  granite  formation  and 
is  also  found  in  small  quantities  in  the  richer  gold  quartz 
veins  that  traverse  these  districts.  Monazite  is  a  very 


GEOLOGY  AND   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF   IDAHO.  225 

heavy  mineral,  readily  saved  to  a  clean  product  by  under- 
currents and  ordinary  burlap  tables.  It  has  never  been 
sampled  very  extensively,  and  whether  a  commercial  prop- 
osition or  not,  has  not  yet  been  proved.  The  value  of  this 
mineral  at  present  seems  to  depend  on  its  thoria  contents 
and  ranges  up  to  two  hundred  dollars  per  ton.  Monazite 
has  been  reported  from  several  other  points  in  Idaho. 

Molybdenum,  Osmo-ridium. — At  Deer  and  Platinum 
Creeks,  fifteen  miles  east  of  Boise  City,  a  San  Francisco 
chemist  has  given  a  result  of  one-half  an  ounce  of  Osmo- 
ridium  and  one-fourth  ounce  of  platinum  from  samples  of 
rock  taken  from  some  great  dikes  of  felsite  or  rhyolite  in 
granite.  These  dikes  are  of  great  size,  up  to  five  hundred 
feet  wide,  and  all  carry  low  grade  values  in  gold;  one  to 
three  dollars  per  ton.  The  writer  panned  a  number  of  sam- 
ples of  this  rock,  but  failed  to  find  any  metallic  particles  of 
the  rare  metals  mentioned.  These  same  dikes,  however, 
carry  some  fine  specimens  of  flaky  molybdenum,  and  one 
course  ten  feet  wide  gave  an  average  sample  of  four  per 
cent,  of  that  mineral.  Other  investigations  are  being  made 
in  this  field. 

A  blue-white,  very  heavy  metal,  in  very  fine  particles 
hangs  behind  the  fine  gold  pannings  in  the  Salmon  River 
placer  bars  near  the  mouth  of  Owl  Creek  in  Lemhi  County, 
and  is  thought  to  be  platinum  or  iridium.  The  same  is  re- 
ported from  the  bars  below  the  mouth  of  Little  Salmon  in 
Idaho  County.  The  formations  are  gneiss  and  schists. 

Cobalt  and  Nickel. — These  metals  occur  in  all  the  cop- 
per ores  of  trie  extensive  Blackbird  copper  district  in  Lemhi 
County.  The  copper  sulphide  concentrates  show  cobalt 
nickel  values  ranging  from  two  to  ten  per  cent.  Nickel 
values  up  to  three  per  cent,  occur  with  large  bodies  of  gold- 
bearing  iron  pyrites  in  the  eruptive  granite  formations  of 
Washington  Basin  in  Custer  County.  Similar  values  also 
occur  associated  with  pyrrhotite  and  copper  pyrite  in  meta- 
morphic  rocks  at  Profile  Creek  in  Idaho  County. 

Tungsten. — This  mineral  occurs  in  large  fissure  veins  of 
white  quartz  in  a  formation  of  diabase  schists  at  Patterson 
Creek,  Lemhi  County,  ^here  some  quite  extensive  develop- 


226  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

ment  work  has  been  done  and  four  per  cent,  average  values 
are  found  three  to  ten  feet  wide. 

Tin-Vanadium. — High  grade  stream  tin  ore  carrying 
sixty-five  per  cent,  metallic  tin  is  found  associated  with  gold 
bearing  placer  gravel  at  Panther  Creek,  Lemhi  County,  and 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Salmon  City,  also,  in  Lemhi  County, 
from  well  defined  fissure  veins  in  granite.  Samples  con- 
taining thirteen  per  cent,  tin  associated  with  gold  lead  and 
vanadium  are  reported. 

Mercury. — Pebbles  of  cinnabar  that  assay  as  high  as 
eighty  per  cent,  mercury  are  found  in  the  clean-up  boxes  of 
the  Stanley  Basin  placers  in  Custer  County.  At  Sugar 
Creek,  Thunder  Mountain  District,  a  shattered  and  rece- 
mented  bed  of  quartzose  sandstone  contains  average 
values  of  two  per  cent,  mercury,  and  produces  some  fine 
specimens  of  ore.  An  extensive  bed  of  volcanic  tuff  near 
Pine  Grove,  Elmore  county,  contains  an  average  value  of 
one  pound  of  mercury  per  ton,  and  also  some  specimen  cin- 
nabar. Both  the  last  mentioned  points  bear  evidence  of 
solfataric  action.  Native  quicksilver  has  been  reported  at 
several  points  in  Idaho. 

Opals  and  Corundum, — Fire  opals  of  fine  gem  quality 
have  been  mined  in  Latah,  Owyhee  and  Lemhi  Counties,  in 
basalt  and  trachyte  formations,  and  rough  crystals  of 
corundum  occur  associated  with  the  placer  gravels  of  Stan- 
ley Basin,  Custer  county,  and  along  with  placer  bars  of 
Lake  Creek,  Idaho  County. 


The  Mineral  Resources  of  Maine. 

BY  LESLIE  A.   LEE,   STATE   GEOLOGIST. 

The  state  of  Maine  has  an  area  of  33,040  square  miles. 
So  numerous  are  the  lakes  and  other  bodies  of  water  that 
the  actual  extent  of  the  land  surface  is  only  about  29,000 
square  miles.  While  no  mountain  ranges  now  exist  the  oc- 
currence of  many  isolated  peaks  and  the  much  folded  and 
disturbed  condition  of  the  rocks  show  that  the  state  once 
possessed  mountain  scenery  of  the  most  magnificent  kind. 
The  greatest  elevation  is  found  in  Mount  Katahdin  which 
has  a  height  of  5,248  feet.  The  average  elevation  above  the 
sea  is  considerable.  This  fact,  taken  together  with  the 
many  lakes  which  serve  as  reservoirs  for  the  abundant  rain- 
fall, gives  to  Maine  a  water  power  which  far  exceeds  that 
of  any  other  equal  area  in  the  United  States.  The  Andros- 
coggin  Eiver  has  a  developed  water  power  which  is  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  river  of  our  country.  Undoubtedly 
the  available  water  power  of  the  state  is  its  most  valuable 
asset.  The  surface  of  Maine  is  well  diversified  into  hill  and 
valley.  Above  the  rocky  base  the  loose  surface  deposits  are 
often  of  enormous  thickness,  partly  filling  the  valleys  and 
covering  the  more  level  areas.  These  superficial  formations 
are  almost  wholly  of  glacial  origin  of  the  usual  sorts.  Many 
of  them  furnish  road-building  material  of  the  best  quality. 
Such,  is  the  hard  unchangeable  nature  of  the  rock  forma- 
tions that  few  decomposed  rocks  are  to  be  found  in  situ. 
When  found  these  products  of  rock  disintegration  are  also 
excellent  for  road  construction. 

Geologically  speaking  Maine  is  of  extreme  antiquity. 
Excepting  the  marine  clays  and  sands  of  the  glacial  period 
no  formation  is  of  later  age  than  the  lower  carboniferous 
and  even  these,  about  which  there  is  some  doubt,  and  those 
of  the  devonian  age,  are  of  relatively  small  extent.  The 
greater  portion  by  far  are  granites  and  allied  rocks,  gneisses, 
schists,  slates  and  crystalline  limestones.  The  schists, 
gneisses  and  slates  have  been  variously  assigned  to  the 


228  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

Archaean  and  earlier  Palaeozoic  eras.  The  degree  of  gen- 
eral metamorphosis  is  so  great  in  these  that  fossils  are  gen- 
erally absent.  The  amount  of  uplift,  folding  and  faulting  is 
so  much  that  it  is  difficult  to  determine  the  natural  relations 
of  the  different  bodies  of  rocks  of  entirely  .unlike  character. 
The  main  areas  of  these  rocks  have  been  mapped  with  a 
considerable  accuracy,  but  much  remains  to  be  done  in  the 
way  of  locating  their  exact  boundaries.  These  coarsely 
crystalline  strata  are  crossed  by  many  huge  veins  of  pegma- 
tite and  quartz,  as  well  as  by  volcanic  dikes  filled  with  a 
variety  of  igneous  rocks.  The  pegmatite  carries  a  large 
number  of  interesting  and  valuable  minerals,  including 
many  which  have  a  marked  degree  of  commercial  import- 
ance, a  description  of  which  will  be  given  on  a  later  page. 

Extensive  areas  of  clay  slates  exist  in  the  central  and 
northern  portions  of  the  state.  These  are  probably  of  Cam- 
brian or  Silurian  age.  Several  small  and  widely  scattered 
bodies  of  an  impure  Silurian  limestone  are  found.  These 
usually  contain  abundant  fossils. 

The  principal  Devonian  rocks  form  a  band  extending 
through  the  northern  part,  nearly  two  hundred  miles  in 
length.  Lastly,  some  small  areas  of  sandstones  and  shales 
occur  in  the  northeastern  and  southeastern  parts,  the  age  of 
which,  as  before  stated,  is  still  a  matter  of  controversy,  opin- 
ion being  divided  as  to  whether  they  belong  to  the  upper 
Devonian  or  the  lower  Carboniferous. 

The  above  brief  sketch  'of  the  geology  of  Maine  will 
show  that  within  its  boundaries  are  conditions  extraordina- 
rily favorable  for  the  development  of  a  great  richness  of 
mineral  wealth.  The  expectation  is  indeed  a  reality.  No 
reasonably  complete  list  of  its  minerals  has  ever  been  pub- 
lished, though  the  writer  now  has  one  in  preparation.  Any 
extended  research  in  a  limited  locality  has  usually  resulted 
in  the  discovery  of  species  not  hitherto  recorded  from  that 
place,  and  occasionally  of  something  entirely  new  to  science. 
The  work  of  investigation  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  promises 
much  to  the  mineralogist. 

An  account  of  some  of  Maine's  minerals  and  rocks  of 
economic  importance  will  prove  of  general  interest. 


THE  MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF  MAINE.  229 

Gold  has  a  pretty  general  distribution  in  the  state. 
While  many  of  the  river  gravels  will  give  a  color,  placer 
mining  has  been  carried  on  only  in  the  western  counties, 
notably  in  the  Swift,  Dead  and  Sandy  Rivers.  The  gold  is 
of  excellent  quality,  though  fine,  the  largest  nugget  recorded 
having  a  value  of  about  f  19.  The  gravels  are  worked  in  a 
small  way  and  give  a  fair  return  for  the  labor  expended. 
The  search  for  the  sources  of  these  deposits  has  hitherto 
been  unsuccessful,  their  origin  still  remaining  a  mystery. 
Many  pegmatite  and  quartz  veins  elsewhere  give  a  product 
of  a  few  dollars  per  ton.  None  of  the  veins  have  been  suffi- 
ciently exploited  to  demonstrate  their  real  value,  the  anx- 
iety for  immediate  returns  causing  them  to  be  abandoned 
without  proper  development.  A  more  liberal  policy  has 
been  adopted  by  those  \\  ho  have  recently  entered  upon  gold 
mining  here.  Little  of  the  ore  is  free-milling,  though  occa- 
sionally handsome  specimens  occur  in  grains  and  threads 
in  quartz.  Native  silver  has  been  sparingly  found  in  con- 
nection with  trap.  Argentiferous  galena  is  widely  dis- 
tributed, the  largest  deposits  being  seen  in  the  southern  and 
eastern  parts  of  the  state,  usually  in  connection  with  vol- 
canic rocks,  the  vein  carrying  also  pyrite,  copper,  and  some 
zinc.  A  few  of  thejreins  have  been  worked  exclusively  for 
the  lead.  Blue  Hill7Sullivan,  Cherryfield,  Hampden,  Lubec 
and  Pembroke  are  the  localities  of  the  best  known  mines. 
The  Mt.  G liner  mine,  in  Milton  Plantation,  is  developing 
considerable  copper,  with  small  values  of  gold  and  silver. 

No  iron  mines  are  now  worked,  though  there  is  much 
hematite  and  limonite  in  the  state.  The  bog  ore  of  the 
Katahdin  Iron  Works  was  operated  for  many  years  and  the 
product  is  said  to  have  been  of  exceptionally  good  quality. 
The  cost  of  fuel  and  transportation  caused  the  mine  to  be- 
come idle,  but  the  amount  of  ore  is  well  nigh  inexhaustible. 

Tin  ore,  cassiterite,  is  of  sparing  occurrence.  At  Wins- 
low  extensive  operations  were  begun  about  twenty-five  years 
ago,  but  the  failure  of  immediate  results  caused  their  cessa- 
tion. 

Antimony  has  been  found  at  several  localities.     The 


230  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

best  showings  are  perhaps  at  Carmel  and  South  Portland. 
In  neither  place  has  any  extensive  work  been  undertaken. 

"Handsome  specimens  of  molybdenite  have  long  been 
known  from  Maine,  and  particularly  those  from  Brunswick 
have  enriched  many  cabinets  of  minerals.  The  increasing 
importance  of  molybdenum  in  the  arts  has  directed  atten- 
tion to  the  deposits  of  this  mineral.  It  is  found  in  large 
quantities  at  Cooper,  more  occurring  there  than  anywhere 
else  in  the  world,  it  is  reported.  A  company  is  now  develop- 
ing this  property. 

The  non-metallic  minerals  of  Maine  possess  even 
greater  interest  than  the  ores.-  Feldspar  occurs  in  immense 
bodies  in  connection  with  the  pegmatite  veins.  The  princi- 
pal localities  where  extensive  mining  has  been  carried  on 
are  Auburn,  Edgecomb,  Harpswell,  Phippsburg  and  Top- 
sham.  The  quarries  at  the  latter  place  have  been  worked 
continuously  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  the  product 
has  been  enormous.  It  is  refined  near  the  quarry  and  is 
shipped  in  that  condition  for  manufacture  into  pottery  and 
porcelain.  Maine  feldspar  is  of  excellent  quality  and  bears 
the  best  reputation.  The  Topsham  deposit  is  almost  pure 
feldspar,  quartz  being  the  principal  accompanying  mineral. 

Quartz,  "flint,"  is  usually  mined  in  veins  of  a  very 
coarse  pegmatite,  the  other  components  of  which  are  feld- 
spar and  mica,  both  of  commercial  value.  Where  all  are 
found  together  the  question  of  the  utilization  of  the  three 
depends  upon  the  facilities  and  cheapness  of  transportation. 
The  best  deposits  and  qualities  of  mica  are  found  in  the 
western  counties.  At  present  the  largest  production  is  at 
Roxbury.  In  Topsham  plates  of  clear  mica  twelve  and  four- 
teen inches  in  diameter  are  found  in  connection  with  color- 
less quartz  and  large  masses  of  feldspar. 

Graphite  is  a  mineral  with  which  little  has  yet  been 
done  here.  It  occurs  in  numerous  localities,  occupying  a 
belt  fifty  miles  long  in  the  western  part  of  the  state.  Its 
abundance  in  masses  and  seams  of  remarkable  purity  leads 
to  the  expectation  that  its  mining  will  prove  a  profitable 
enterprise.  Madrid,  Turner  and  Peru  are  places  where  it 
has  been  noted. 


THE   MINERAL  RESOURCES   OF   MAINE.  231 

Garnet  is  found  in  such  quantities  as  to  offer  induce- 
ments for  mining  for  use  as  an  abrasive. 

Lepidolite,  Amblygonite  and  Spodumene,  though  usu- 
ally rare,  may  yet  be  mined  for  the  production  of  lithium 
salts. 

In  the  production  of  minerals  used  as  precious  stones, 
Maine  stands  in  the  front  rank.  Her  gems  have  a  world- 
wide reputation.  For  almost  a  hundred  years  they  have 
been  celebrated  for  their  fine  color,  brilliancy  and  other 
good  qualities.  The  yearly  output  is  increasing,  but  has 
never  yet  been  equal  to  the  demand.  Among  the  gems  the 
tourmaline  leads.  Mt.  Mica,  in  Paris,  was  the  original  local- 
ity where  mining  was  begun  in  1820,  and  still  some  of  the 
finest  stones  are  now  being  found.  The  mineral  here  occurs 
in  pockets  in  a  coarse  granite  formation.  It  is  found  in  all 
colors  and  shades — green,  red,  pink,  blue,  yellow  and  white. 
The  cut  gems-  are  of  all  weights  up  to  100  carats.  One  in 
the  Field  Columbian  Museum  is  valued  at  $10,000,  while 
others  still  larger,  as  yet  unvalued,  are  almost  priceless,  rep- 
resenting the  largest  and  finest  tourmalines  in  the  world. 
It  is  said  that  tourmalines  from  Maine  are  unequaled  any- 
where else  for  their  depth  and  brilliancy  of  color.  Other 
localities  celebrated  for  tourmalines  are  Auburn,  Hebron 
and  Newry.  Of  lesser  note,  but  still  of  fine  quality,  are  the 
gems  found  beryl,  aquamarine,  chrysoberyl,  topaz,  zircon 
and  amethyst. 

The  rocks  of  Maine  used  for  building,  decoration  and 
other  industrial  purposes,  are  too  well  known  to  require  ex- 
tended mention  here.  The  quarrying  of  granite  on  a  large 
scale  began  in  1836,  and  now  this  state  leads  in  the  value  of 
its  production.  More  than  twenty  distinct  areas  of  granite 
are  found  well  distributed  over  the  state  except  in  the  north- 
ern portion.  Probably  more  than  one  hundred  quarries  are 
now  in  active  operation.  Most  of  these  of  large  production, 
are  near  tide  water,  where  the  facilities  for  transportation 
are  best.  Among  the  rocks  which  are  commercially  known, 
as  granite,  are  found  those  of  every  color  and  other  quali- 
ties desired  for  building  and  ornamental  purposes.  They 
include  gray,  both  light  and  dark,  black,  red  and  green,  and 


232  PROCEEDINGS  AMERICAN  MINING  CONGRESS. 

are  unexcelled  for  durability.  In  many  cases  the  size  of  the 
blocks  taken  out  is  limited  only  by  the  means  used  for  haud: 
ling  them. 

Roofing  slate  abounds  in  the  central  and  northern  parts 
of  the  state.  The  Brownville  and  Monson  quarries  have 
been  worked  for  many  years.  This  slate  possesses  most  ad- 
mirable qualities,  and  besides  its  use  for  roofing,  is  manu- 
factured for  many  other  purposes.  The  recent  extension  of 
the  Fish  River  Railroad  has  opened  up  another  area  which 
promises  to  become  of  great  value. 

In  the  southern  portion  of  the  state  are  great  beds  of 
limestone,  which  have  long  been  worked  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  lime,  in  Rockland,  Rockport  and  Tho'maston.  At 
present  the  annual  output  of  lime  is  nearly  two  million 
casks.  Being  shipped  by  water  to  most  distant  points,  this 
enormous  production  is  likely  to  be  further  increased. 

This  brief  sketch  will  merely  serve  to  show  that  Maine 
possesses  a  vast  mineral  wealth.  Little  of  it  has  hitherto 
been  utilized.  Its  development  has  been  largely  in  the  bet- 
ter settled  portions.  More  than  one-half  of  the  state  is  still 
practically  uninhabited,  and  consists  of  so-called  wild  lands, 
covered  with  forests.  The  mineral  resources  of  this  portion 
are  little  known.  No  one  can  foretell  what  proper  explora- 
tion will  bring  to  light.  Yet  there  are  innumerable  present 
opportunities  for  the  profitable  investment  of  capital  in  the 
development  of  new  mineral  industrial  enterprises.  Water 
power  is  everyAvhere  within  reach  either  directly  or  by  elec- 
trical transmission.  Railways  are  extending  into  the  wil- 
derness and  thus  the  cost  of  the  manufacture  and  marketing 
of  mineral  products  is  reduced  to  the  lowest  terms.  Maine 
may  not  contain  bonanzas  within  her  boundaries,  but  she 
offers  a  greater  certainty  of  a  liberal  return  on  an  invest- 
ment than  can  be  assured  elsewhere. 

Brunswick,  Maine. 


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